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News from the Department of Theatre
DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE PRESENTS NEIL SIMON’S
BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS
The Auburn University Department of Theatre proudly presents Brighton Beach Memoirs, Neil Simon’s 1983 award-winning play about a Brooklyn family and its comic struggle to hold itself together during the worst year of the Great Depression. It’s 1937, and the world of young Eugene Morris Jerome--budding writer and would-be baseball player—seems to be coming apart at the seams. Pop’s boss goes bankrupt, brother Stan loses his job after sticking up for a co-worker, and his Aunt Blanche wants to date the drunken neighbor who’s been known to spend the night in a doorway across the street.
Part one of what has become known as Simon’s Eugene Trilogy, Brighton Beach –along with Biloxi Blues (1985) and Broadway Bound (1986)—is a semi-autobiographical work reflecting Simon’s childhood in the ethnic enclave of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, and later his experience as a young draftee and fledgling comedy writer.
Winner of three Tonys and a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, Brighton Beach is a tribute to the power of family bonds in the midst of crisis. Scott Phillips, Associate Professor of Theatre and director of the AU production, thinks the situation facing the Jerome family may resonate with an audience in the midst of an economic crisis of its own. “We may not be in the Great Depression,” says Phillips, “more like the Great Recession—but the Jerome family’s problems are not unlike what many families are facing today.”
When Brighton Beach premiered in the 1980s—with a young Matthew Broderick in the role of Eugene--it represented a departure from the style of early Simon plays such as Barefoot in the Park (1963) and The Odd Couple (1965). “Simon’s early work is very joke oriented,” Phillips explains, “which is what you might expect from a playwright who cut his professional teeth working as a sketch comedy writer in the early days of television. But the humor in Brighton Beach derives much more from the richness of the characters than from set-ups and punch lines.”
Many critics have agreed, including Time Magazine’s T.E. Kalem, who wrote that the Jerome family “meets challenges with such enormous spirit, dignity and vigor that life—at once humorous and poignant—is something to celebrate.” Walter Kerr called it Simon’s “most serious play,” but was quick to point out that “we are invited to watch its resentments grow and its angers flare through the eyes of a canny adolescent who has already learned how to translate trouble into high humor. It's an ingenious device and, given Mr. Simon's own special equipment, no doubt a wise and honest one."
Which is probably why, as AU Theatre prepares to open Brighton Beach on November 13, the show is once again being revived on Broadway. In fact, the Broadway production began previews on October 2, just as AU’s production went into rehearsal, proving that Simon’s iconic status and popular appeal—from mid-town Manhattan to the Plains—is as strong as ever.
Valet parking is not available for all performances. Please call 334-844-6624
You can also buy your tickets online through the AU Outreach Program Office
http://www.auburn.edu/outreach/opo/
AU THEATRE
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Make check or money order to:
Auburn University Theatre
Send to:
Auburn University Theatre
211 Telfair B. Peet Theatre
Auburn University, Auburn 36849-5422
Box Office Hours:
Closed Monday
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Tuesday thru Friday
Open one hour before each performance weekends and all performances.
Admission:
Free to AU students with valid ID
General Public $15
Faculty/Staff/Senior Citizens $10
Students (grade and high school) - $10
Group rates available. Make appointment with Box Office Manager, 334-844-4154