There is a bit of loveliness in dysfunction

Touted as Neil Simon’s “best play,” by the New York Post, “Lost in Yonkers” won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for drama and ran for 780 shows on Broadway.

”Yonkers” is a tale of family dysfunction at its best in 1942 New York. When father Eddie needs to make some money, he takes a job as a travelling salesman. His late wife’s medical bills led him to borrow cash from some undesirable people. Now the loans have come due and Eddie must pay them.

Rather than take his two boys, Arty and Jay, on the road with him, he leaves them with their reluctant grandmother and aunt in Yonkers. Grandma Kurnitz is far from loving. She initially refuses to take the boys in, and only after their mentally handicapped Aunt Bella threatens her does Grandma Kurnitz give in to his request.

The play kicked off the Driftwood Players season last week with their fundraiser and champagn opener. This week it will be performed for the public on Friday and Saturday. Curtain time is at 7:30 pm.

“Our two leads … Riley Jackson (15) who plays Jay, and Brandon Emry (13) who plays Arty, are doing really great,” said director Sara Henry. Henry, in addition to directing, is also filling in the role of the boys’ aunt, Bella, after three actresses turned down the role. “It was not what was planned. It was not something I came to lightly. It was a cast decision.”

“I am really lucky to have a strong cast. They have progressed this play along.”

For Henry the most difficult part of this production is separating herself from being director and actor. The role of Bella, says Henry, is a huge role and takes a lot of time.

“Bella is an emotionally arrested 35-year-old — a teenage kid.” She said, “The difficult part of this role is to be true to her innocence and allow her to grow. She is the only character that has an arc of growth. She changes the most throughout the play.”

Essentially, Bella, who lives with her mother, makes the decision that Jay and Arty will move in with them when Bella’s brother Eddie must leave town for work to pay for his late wife’s medical bills. “Bella has some really nice moments,” said Henry.

Henry is the Trustee of the Childrens Theatre and has directed three other plays, “Cinderella,” “Catfish Moon” and “Aladin.” She chose this play because it included children in the cast. “I will always choose a play that incorporates children.”

Henry moved here when she was 8 and has grown up through the Grays Harbor theater culture as a part of the 7th Street Kids, a student of Brad Duffy’s at Grays Harbor College and a member of the Driftwood Players. Theater is in the Aberdeen High School graduate’s blood.

“The community here, for me, is my family. I’ve grown up in Driftwood.”

Tickets

The comedy in two acts for teens and adults will open to the public on Friday, Sept. 26, and will continue on Saturday, Sept. 27, Oct. 3, 4, 10, 11, 12. Curtain times are 7:30 Fridays and Saturdays and 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased online at aberdeendriftwood.com, Valu-Drug in Montesano, Top Foods and City Center Drug in Aberdeen, Harbor Drug in Hoquiam, Dolores’ and Fay’s in Ocean Shores or may be purchased at the door if still available.