Brighton Beach Memoirs is a play that, going in to see, I knew very little about, but knowing that the author was Neil Simon, it was a show I was very much looking forward to seeing.
Brighton Beach Memoirs revolves around Eugene Jerome, a teenage boy from a Jewish Polish family, growing up in Brooklyn in 1937. Eugene decides to write down the comings and goings of his family as part of his memoirs and, through this, we learn about his parents, his older brother, along with his aunt and two cousins who also live with him.
The play itself explores really interesting concepts, looking at the impact the Great Depression had on the working person, along with what being Jewish felt like as the start of the war drew closer. Under the direction of Nick Mouton, these themes were drawn out really well, and the pacing of this production both drew you into this family’s life as well as the bigger picture being reflected within it. What I particularly liked was that these wider issues never felt as though they had been added simply to give the story historical significance. Instead, they form the backdrop to the family’s everyday life, with concerns about money, work and what is happening in Europe gradually becoming part of the conversations and tensions within the household.
The entirety of the show feels utterly believable and realistic, from how the characters are drawn and portrayed to the attention to detail within their mannerisms and the set itself. Playing Eugene was Daniel Cox and he perfectly captured a boy on a crash course through puberty, striking a real balance in eliciting humour from the script without overplaying it and trusting the writing to create the natural moments of pathos in contrast to the humour. His relationship with his family was also well developed, in particular his idolisation of his older brother Stanley, played by Barnaby Howe. The two bounced off each other brilliantly, creating a real feel of familial familiarity between them.
Renee Alanna Foster played Kate, Eugene and Stanley’s mother, and she clearly came across as the matriarch of the piece and the glue holding the family together. This was in contrast with the quieter David Pearson playing their father Jack, who captured perfectly Jack’s tiredness but unwavering love for his family, communicated not just by the script but through his whole demeanour towards them all.
Eugene’s cousins and his aunt also live with him due to the death of their father, which creates further interesting family dynamics. Playing his aunt Blanche was Carly Garrod and she was brilliant in the role, from her difficulty seeing without her glasses, which led to a semi-permanent squint and nervous mannerisms, through to her consistently thick but clear accent. Completing the cast were Isobel Clair Lawson as Nora, Eugene’s older cousin he has a crush on, and Natasha Keith as Laurie, the younger, pampered daughter because of her condition. Both portrayed their contrasting characters well and really helped cement the family dynamic.
The wonderful thing about this production was that, whilst each performance was wonderfully assured individually, collectively they worked so well together, bouncing off each other so the conversations flowed with an incredibly natural pace. This is a cast where the relationships between the characters are just as important as the individual performances, and the actors clearly understood that. Even in scenes where one character wasn’t at the centre of the action, there was a sense that the family were still listening, reacting and existing together.
The set design was also very well considered, with a raised carpeted platform used to denote the upper level of the house. This allowed scenes to shift quickly and for us to observe the cast in their rooms even once the action had shifted away from them. The lack of beds, which resulted in the younger family members lying on the floor at various moments of the show, looked slightly odd in contrast with the rest of the set, which had been completed with such realism, from the dining table to the living room sofa and chair. It was particularly noticeable because so much care had been taken with the rest of the environment. There was also a tremendous amount of care taken in the set dressing, costumes and hair to ensure they were appropriate for the time period.
What makes Brighton Beach Memoirs work is that, whilst the historical backdrop is important, the heart of the play is much more universal. The arguments between siblings, parents worrying about their children and children trying to work out who they are all feel instantly recognisable, even when the world around them is very different to the one we live in today. This production found that balance well, allowing the historical setting to add context without overwhelming the family story at its centre.
Ultimately, Brighton Beach Memoirs is a lovely example of what an amateur production can achieve when the cast genuinely feel like a family rather than simply a group of actors sharing a stage. The performances are assured, the period detail is thoughtfully considered and the direction allows both the humour and the more serious themes to breathe naturally. It may have been a play I knew very little about before arriving, but this production certainly left me understanding why Neil Simon’s family stories have endured.
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If you like this review you may also like my review of The Curious Incident of A Dog In the Night Time, Company and Next to Normal, all by Sedos.