Laura and Samara spend their days as non-profit unicorns and fill every spare minute exploring the world of musical theatre as BFFs (that’s Broadway Friends Forever). Follow @bffs613 on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Kanata Theatre’s presentation of the lauded American playwright Neil Simon’s coming-of-age comedy Brighton Beach Memoirs is on until April 6 at the beautiful Ron Maslin Playhouse. It tells the story of a Jewish teenager from an immigrant Polish family during the Great Depression as he documents his memoirs through his early teenage years.
Eugene Jerome has dreams of baseball stardom with his ambitions to be a writer set as a backup plan. The audience joins him in writing his story, with the unknown of his future and what’s to come. His narration of the story breaks the fourth wall with the audience, bringing consistent comedic relief and centralizing the story as told from the perspective of a 15-year-old boy.
Photo by Alex Henkleman
His story follows the common tribulations of teenage life, including puberty, family dynamics, the financial strain of the times and the impending war. Eugene gives insight into the lives of his family: his mother the constant worrier, his father battling against the financial strains the family is facing, his older brother (whom Eugene goes between idolizing and hating), along with his widowed aunt and her two daughters who moved in with the family a little over three years ago.
The themes of Brighton Beach Memoirs bring dramatic and powerful stories to the stage, highlighting the story of each character and fully developing each family member’s experience. Despite some heavy topics, it may surprise you that the show is a comedy. It was rare through the opening night performance to have a moment where the entire audience wasn’t breaking into eruptions of laughter.
Photo by Alex Henkleman
The whole cast brought amazing performances, showing the complexities of each character and bringing those all-too-familiar family dynamics to life. We have to bring particular attention to William Mann, a Canterbury High School student, who plays Eugene with flawless timing, helping to deliver the humour seamlessly, and the full complexities of Eugene’s character as he balances teenage life. The staging and lighting were done impeccably well which helped envelop the audience in the story, as well as ensure that even when all characters were on stage, we knew where to draw our attention.
Kanata Theatre continues to bring powerful stories and impeccable productions to their stages. Brighton Beach Memoirs will bring you straight into 1937 Brooklyn and enthrall you in the story of the Jerome family through lots of laughs and heart.
Kanata Theatre’s Brighton Beach Memoirs takes place until April 6. Shows are at 7:30pm, except Sunday matinees at 2:30pm. Tickets are $26.
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