Overview
Synopsis
Lost in Yonkers is a coming-of-age story set in Yonkers, New York. Simon's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play centers around two brothers, Arty and Jay, who live with their grandmother and their mentally challenged Aunt Bella, while their father travels, desperately trying to scrape enough money together while working as a salesman to pay off his debts to a loan shark, and their mother has died of cancer. Over the course of the play, the young boys learn lessons about love, responsibility and the importance of family that will carry them into adulthood.
Show Information
- Book
- Neil Simon
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 1990
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy, Dark Comedy
- Settings
- Contemporary
- Time & Place
- brooklyn, new york, 1942, yonkers, apartment
- Cast Size
- small
- Licensor
- Samuel French
- Ideal For
- College/University, Community Theatre, High School, Mostly Male Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Theatre, Includes Early Teen, Adult, Mature Adult, Elderly, Late Teen Characters
Context
Set during in 1942, Lost in Yonkers is similar to many of Neil Simon’s plays that explore Jewish Americans during the World War II era such as the Eugene Trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound). For this reason, some critics viewed the play as a tired rendition of a common trope and were underwhelmed. But Neil Simon has always had his supporters, and Lost in Yonkers won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1991.
The original New York Times review of the play
to read the context for Lost in Yonkers and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Act One
Brothers Jay and Arty Kurnitz are sitting in their grandmother’s hot and stuffy Yonkers apartment while their father talks with Grandma in her room. There is tension in the air, and the boys complain about their grandma’s cane-swinging temper and mock their Aunt Bella’s mental slowness. Occasionally their father Eddie pokes his head out from the room, wiping sweat from his brow and admonishing the boys to be calm and presentable. The boys are also fascinated by their Uncle Louie,
to read the plot for Lost in Yonkers and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
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Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
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Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
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|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
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|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
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|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
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|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
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|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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Guide Written By:
Cindi Calhoun
Theatre teacher, director, writer, and seamstress