"Lost in Yonkers"

July 30, 2015 — It was the closest to a full house I've seen in a long time. I couldn't spot an empty seat anywhere in the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire, at their afternoon performance of Neil Simon's "Lost in Yonkers," directed for the Playhouse by Marta Rainer. The capacity crowd had much to be happy about by the end of this funny, poignant play.

Winner of both the Tony and Pulitzer Prize, "Lost in Yonkers" has a fascinating cast of diverse characters. Set during World War II, it's the story of Eddie (Jason Plourde), who has slid deeply in debt to a loan shark who financed his wife's treatment for cancer up until she died of the disease. With payback due in less than a year, Eddie has given up their apartment to leave  his two teenage sons (John-Michael Breen and Jordan Quisno) with his mother, the boys' grandmother  (Donna Goldfarb) and his sister, the slightly whacky Bella (Molly Parker Myers) while he goes on the road across America to collect scrap iron to come up with the cash.

Grandma was born Jewish in Germany and escaped to America before the rise of the Nazis. Her harsh life has left her cynical, incapable of affection, intolerant of what she perceives as weakness in others, striking fear into the rest of the family. Suffering the most is Bella, left to care for her. Bella is the most interesting character, flighty, excitable, by turns upbeat, angry, funny, depressed, starved for love, a challenging role well-played by Myers. She has a clash with Grandma that's a dramatic high-point of the play.

Later, another son, Louie (Nicholas Wilder) shows up. A gun-toting, street-smart bag man for the mob, the only one of the family not intimidated by Grandma, he earns the two boys' admiration. A threatening phone call and strange men hanging around outside lead them to wonder if Louie is in danger. "Are you in trouble?" asks one of the boys. "I've never not been in trouble,'' says Louie. The small role of Gert, another daughter with a really strange speech impediment,  goes to Rebecca Tucker.

Laughs, sadness, joy, pain, intense drama all come together in this play. It's a great theater experience.