| Show Funny fulfilling Brighton Beach graces see Norbert Bensch Staff Writer on Valentines Valentine's OPENING night isn't the easiest way to pack a theatre so it was a smallish crowd th that t saw debut performance e of Brighton Beach Memoirs But Bu t what they saw was a well blended mixture of humo r ra and pathos presented by a skilled cast Written by Neil Simon whose initial fame was gained in creating straight comedy l the play is the first in a series which examines his early life l While it still contains many of his noted one-liners one there is always the tense rent of family survival in prewar pre prewar war America It is this tension which holds the audience in inthe inthe inthe the story and acts as a platform platform platform plat plat- form for some gifted comedy Using a pubescent boy as the tour guide Simon craftily craftily craftily ly winds winds' us through ugh the tangled maze of his Jewish family relationships The strong vocal mother figure the wise and generally quiet father the idolized brother the ever present aunt the goddess cousin and her spoiled sister were all there Their actions were as exaggerated exaggerated exaggerated as you might expect a boy to remember them Yet as an adult audience with reality as a reference you are able to see the strength of the people beneath the characters This family is not television its it's not the Cleavers You'll find no well- well pressed mother no cardboard father here You will find a group of three dimensional people strength people strength weakness love anger confusion depression humor everything everything every every- every every- thing thing- j jIn In such a cohesive cast individual individual individual in in- performances s are hard to separate Understandably Understandably Understandably Under Under- Simons Simon's strongest characters are himself and his his' parents In these roles role Christopher Angelos Jayne Luke and Jim Rounds were were excellent and carried the bulk of the play The supporting supporting sup supporting sup sup- porting cast of Craig Camp Elaine Kelbch Colleen Lewis and Susanna Merrill provided an appropriate backdrop for the movement of central characters The quality of this production should attract larger crowds as word spreads Brighton Beach Memoirs continues through Feb 29 in the Grand Theatre at South City Campus Performances Performances Per Per- I begin promptly at pm p.m. and end about 1030 This is not a comedy which would be enjoyed by small children so get a sitter sit sitter sit sitter ter have dinner out and make mak a full evening of it I II I I |
