Lost in Yonkers

Family. You can’t live without them but sometimes moving in with them can be scary. Learning together and peeling back the layers reveals more than you thought possible. Written by Neil Simon and directed by Alida Chaney, Lost in Yonkers is a coming-of-age tale about a dysfunctional German-Jewish family in World War II. Set in Yonkers, New York, two young boys are left with their tyrannical grandmother while their father goes away to earn money to pay a loan shark. Their mentally-challenged Aunt Bella also lives in the house and is delighted her nephews have come to stay – meanwhile, their Uncle Louie collects dirty money for The Mob. In addition to winning the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Lost in Yonkers also scored the Drama Desk Award for Best New Play and four Tony Awards the same year. A 1993 film adaptation featured Richard Dreyfuss and Mercedes Ruehl. Lost in Yonkers is about finding one’s way through the tangled web of family relationships without losing the sense of self or sense of humour and epitomises Neil Simon’s trademark mix of comedy and drama.