Glenbrook Players

Brighton Beach Memoirs

by Neil Simon

Directed by Dot Ward

May 2009

All photographs on this page are copyright
©mickbell 2009 | 1/6/09

Set in Brooklyn, New York's Brighton Beach in 1937, the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy is the first play in what is known as Simon's "Eugene Trilogy."

The small cast consists of Eugene, his brother Stanley and their parents Kate and Jack, as well as Kate's sister Blanche, and her two daughters, Nora and Laurie.

Eugene is almost 15 years old, is third generation in a Jewish family originally from Russia, and just like immigrants here, each generation seems to move away from their country of origin and tries to assimilate.
So Eugene wants to be a baseball player and wishes he was of Italian origin "because all the great baseball players are of Italian origin".

Eugene sets the table

He has a lot of Jewish mother jokes, but has an underlying vulnerability.
So although he is like any 15-year old boy obsessed with sex and food, we can see underneath this the beginnings of the writer he is to become who can laugh at his own failings, but still shows sensitivity.

Kate the mother has always had to be the elder sister, can be overbearing, but is a caring, loving person and tries to keep things going. She bears all the worry and responsibility of the family but underneath feels cheated in that she has always had to be the drudge of the family: a typical Jewish mother.

Blanche, her sister, has been a widow for six years. She moved in with Kate and Jake after her husband died, and she is still living there.
She is under the thumb of her sister, and was probably in the same position with her husband, but she is starting to resist and assert herself, and one of the big scenes in the play is the confrontation between her and Kate. Blanche prepares for her night out

She is considering a friendship with an Irish man from across the road but we are not sure by the end of the play whether she really will move out, or across the road, into the Murphy's house. The women in the house think that because of the war and with more jobs for women available she will move.
Blanche has also created the role of "sick child" for her younger daughter Laurie who has a heart murmur. This may well be to replace her husband, and her support for Laurie is to the exclusion of Nora, her elder daughter, who feels neglected and unloved. This leads to another confrontation, this time between Nora and Blanche.

Stanley seems at first the good boy of the play. He goes to work, missing out on college in order to bring another pay packet into the house. He is his mother's favourite but as the play progresses it is he who causes most of the dramas, by getting the sack in the first act, and losing his pay in the second act playing poker.
He is a loving brother to Eugene, and there is a very
Stanley tells Eugene of his job problems

tender moment in the second act when he decides to run away and join the army after losing his pay.
He is the main source of information on sex for Eugene and they have several big scenes together.

Nora is learning to dance and wants to join the cast of a Broadway show. An agent has indicated that she could well be cast and she is both overjoyed and desperate to take this opportunity.
She feels that her mother has neglected her and not given her as much attention as Laurie, and that before that her mother was so caught up in the father that she has never been loved enough. Nora tells of her dance offer

Laurie enjoys the attention that she gets from her mother and aunt because she is supposed to have a flutter in her heart. But she is also trying to cope with her father's death, and feels insecure and worried about what will happen in the future.





Jack hears of Nora's offer
Jack or Jacob, the father, is trying desperately to keep on supporting the seven people in the household.
He cuts raincoats during the day then sells party favours at night to earn more money. Sadly the party favour company goes broke early in the play and later he starts to drive a taxi cab at night.
He does this until he has a heart attack
Kate, Jack and Eugene discuss problems
"because he just plain wore out" as Eugene says.
He is a kindly man with less racial feelings than his wife, who is always talking about the "dirty drunken Irish" across the road.

They are a mixed up crowd, in a bad situation, who still manage to laugh through their adversities. There are some very poignant moments in between the laughs, all leading to a very enjoyable play







The family at dinner

Cast of Characters

Eugene Jerome - almost fifteen, a baseball addict - It is his plan to be a famous name in this one day
Blanche Morton - his aunt - living with Jerome's family since the death of her husband and two years younger than her sister.
Kate Jerome - Eugene's mother, sister to Blanche, about forty years old
Laurie Morton - Eugene's younger cousin, also living with Eugene's family, aged thirteen and suffering from weak heart, treated as a half -invalid by her mother and Kate
Nora Morton - Laurie's elder sister, just over sixteen and developing into a lovely young women, also living with Eugene's family
Stanley Jerome - Eugene's brother who tries to look out for and "educate" Eugene, a young man of eighteen with principles, which is difficult for a family in the depression
Jake Jerome - Eugene's father, an old forty-year man, working two jobs to keep his extended family in hard times

Cast List

Eugene Jerome Scott Newton
Blanche Morton Anne Bell
Kate Jerome Jill Hogwood
Laurie Morton Mairead Sheehy
Nora Morton Amy Wray
Stanley Jerome Rowan Bate
Jack Jerome Anthony Gilchrist


Crew List

Director Dot Ward
Asst to Director Steph Sheehan
Stage Manager Jeannine Ashbee
Set Designer Max Sinclair
Set Construction Max Sinclair
Michael Sinclair
Stephen Wray
Greg Sheehy
Costumes Linda Sinclair
Props Mel Rinaldi
Lighting Design/Setup Paul Hardaker
Lighting Operation Stephen Wray
Sound Disc creation Ian Bates
Sound Operator Steph Sheehan
FOH Manager Kendra Herron
Vocal Coach Paige Walker
Jeannine Ashbee
Program/Poster Design Anita Nau-Kleinmann