Lost In Yonkers

by Neil Simon
Directed by Dane Winters

Lost in Yonkers opened on Broadway in February 1991. It won four Tony Awards (including Best Play),
and the 1991 Pulitzer Award for Drama.

It is 1942. Eddie, a widower, is panic stricken when he has to persuade iron-clad Grandma Kurnitz to take in his two young sons Jay and Artie so he can travel to a new Defense job to earn money for his family. There we also meet Aunt Bella, slightly simple in the head, and Uncle Louie, a small-time gangster. The varied characters of Lost in Yonkers exhibit various forms of survival techniques: Uncle Louie's "moxie," the boys' refuge in a mixture of one-liners and late-night forays to the candy store for ice cream, and Bella's constant search for unconditional love and acceptance. Grandma Kurnitz, however, is made of steel, born out of a resolve to survive and live through the pain of survival. It is precisely this conflict that brings humor to the play, as each member of the family struggles to survive old wounds from their childhood in Yonkers.

At the core of it, Lost in Yonkers is a play about finding one's way through the tangled webs of familial relationships and attempting to survive life without losing the sense of self.

"The best play Simon ever wrote." - New York Post.
"Broadway desperately needs a comedy, a drama, and a hit.
With 'Lost in Yonkers,' Simon has given us all three." - Wall Street Journal

Cast and Crew