Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a tender yet comic story about a family that embraces life even during hard times. Filled with pointed, wisecracking humor and sentimental memories, Brighton Beach Memoirs is a joyful, enriching experience. The play is an affectionate portrait of Brooklyn-Jewish family life in 1937. Fifteen-year-old Eugene, an aspiring writer and future pitcher for the New York Yankees, is our guide through this delightful story. Eugene lives with his parents, older brother, aunt and two cousins in a modest Brighton Beach home. Together, this extended family faces the daily challenges of life during the Depression. With a skillful mixture of comedy and drama, Simon raises the enduring issues of sibling rivalry and family relationships, while the world approaches the brink of another world war.
Brighton Beach Memoirs is one of a trilogy of autobiographical works by Neil Simon; the others are Biloxi Blues, currently on Broadway, and Broadway Bound, as yet unproduced.