This nostalgic memory play takes us back to the summer of 1942: World War II is on, and Eddie, flat broke, leaves his sons with their grandmother while he struggles to pay off his debts. The two boys are left to contend with an ill-tempered Grandma, the sweet but damaged Aunt Bella, and Uncle Louie, a small-time hoodlum in a strange new world called Yonkers.
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Production photos by Michael Brosilow.
REVIEWS
Yonkers is deeply moving – and Neil Simon’s finest
★★★★
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
May 12, 2014
By CHRIS JONES
The master farceurs of the English-language theater of the 20th century are aging. The beloved British scribe Alan Ayckbourn was 75 last month. Neil Simon is 86. These two men – cumulatively responsible for scores of plays and an incalculable number of uneasy laughs – do not have an obvious heir. Not one who can write plays like Lost in Yonkers, now on stage in a deeply moving production from the Northlight Theatre and one of the happy surprises of the spring season.
Lost in Yonkers justly won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, changed the way critics looked at Neil Simon, and probably reveals more about the playwright than any of the official biographies. I’ve long thought Lost in Yonkers, which is masterfully crafted, was far and away Simon’s best play. I hadn’t seen it in years before heading to Skokie on Friday night, where the young director Devon de Mayo is making an auspicious Northlight debut with a beautifully cast and toned production, carefully focused on characters in pain but nonetheless funny throughout.
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REVIEWS
Northlight mounts blistering revival of Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
May 11, 2014
By HEDY WEISS
Speak the name Neil Simon to fervent champions of “cutting edge theater” and more often than not they will roll their eyes in the most dismissive way. They are the losers.
In fact, I would dare each and every one of them to make their way to Northlight Theatre, where director Devon de Mayo and her cast have created a gorgeous revival of Lost in Yonkers, Simon’s 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. I bet few who make the effort will emerge from that theater unchanged by the experience in some profound way.
Yes, Simon has written a traditionally structured play about a family in distress. But it is a great beauty of a work that, on the edge of a dime, masterfully turns from the tragic to the comic in human nature while capturing all the absurdity that lies in between. Simon also brilliantly limns characters from three generations whose lives leave an indelible imprint on each other, and on us.
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REVIEWS
Northlight’s heartfelt Yonkers is wonderfully satisfying
★★★½
DAILY HERALD
May 14, 2014
By BARBARA VITELLO
In Lost in Yonkers, Neil Simon achieves that near-perfect balance of humor and pathos. The laughs are hearty and the emotion is genuine in this 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning dramedy about two brothers sent by their widowed father to live with their steely, inaccessible grandmother.
Many consider it Simon’s best work. Northlight Theatre’s lovely, heartfelt revival makes it clear why.
Deftly staged by former Northlight education director Devon de Mayo (whose directing suggests a real understanding of Simon’s sensibility), the wonderfully satisfying revival boasts an impressive cast that is nothing short of superb. Shifting effortlessly (and credibly) between the comedic and the tragic, their performances are moving and fully realized.
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REVIEWS
Review: Lost in Yonkers/Northlight Theatre
RECOMMENDED
NEWCITY
May 12, 2014
By AARON HUNT
Director Devon de Mayo’s leads her cast through the minefields of this Pulitzer-winning piece. Simon’s wildly successful turn from comedic, commercial vehicles to self-exploration gave us a work that vomits out great personal pain, with only brief moments of the old chuckling Simon to save us before we fall too far, and this makes for exciting and hair-raising challenges for the players. Underneath the linear, episodic plot structure whirlpools of heart-disconnects swirl. The broad, sweeping character arcs that the writing demands can only be fashioned internally by artists who commit to the material. And in Northlight’s production we have that in spades.
The battle that determines the outcome of the war is fought between Ann Whitney’s Grandma and Linsey Page Morton’s Aunt Bella. The craft that equips them to plumb such dark and horrific places, and the artistic alchemy that allows us to go along for their ride, landing unscathed yet wiser, is not to be missed.
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PREVIEWS
Lost in Yonkers could easily be set in today’s times
SUN-TIMES MEDIA
May 4, 2014
By CATEY SULLIVAN
Think of Neil Simon and odds are you’ll think of plays defined by one-liners, rapid-fire quips and light-hearted humor. But with Lost in Yonkers, the prolific writer (and one of only two living playwrights to have a Broadway theater named after him) goes far deeper than he did with such lighthearted hits as Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple.
Lost in Yonkers, winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, doesn’t skimp on the wisecracks. But amid the banter and gags, Simon’s comedy offers deeply felt exploration of a family in trouble. And although it’s set in the summer of 1942, Lost in Yonkers still comes across as stinging and contemporary.
“The thing that jumped out at me right away about this play is how contemporary it feels,” says director Devon de Mayo, who helms the production of Lost in Yonkers opening in previews May 2 at Skokie’s Northlight Theatre. “The plot starts with this father who has gone into huge debt because of his wife’s medical bills. How current is that?”
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Five great ways to celebrate Mother’s Day
SUN-TIMES MEDIA
May 6, 2014
By MYRNA PETLICKI
A funny family: Moms will love their families even more after spending time with the hilariously dysfunctional relatives in Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers at Northlight Theatre. Read more>
From Hair to Lost in Yonkers in a whirlwind few weeks
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
May 15, 2014
By CHRIS JONES
And the phones rang like crazy at Northlight Theatre, which unspooled a formidable Lost in Yonkers, reminding us that Neil Simon’s best work still is a bridge to proven excellence. Read more>
EVEN MORE!
“It’s another hit for Northlight. Pulitzer Prize-Winning Lost In Yonkers is Must-See Theater.”
Make It Better – Anna Carlson
“Among the finest plays I’ve seen this year! Don’t miss it.”
ChicagoCritic.com – Tom Williams
“By far the best I have ever seen of this play … even better than the film version.”
Around the Town Chicago – Al Bresloff
“Linsey Page Morton can start clearing space on her mantle for the awards her performance as Bella should rightfully earn her.”
Chicagoland Theater Reviews – Dan Zeff