Brighton Beach Memoirs

Act One

At the Jerome house on Brighton Beach, in September of 1937, almost 15-year-old Eugene Jerome fantasizes about playing professional baseball. Inside the house, Eugene’s mother Kate is preparing dinner, while his nearsighted aunt Blanche struggles to see her work at the sewing machine. His 13-year-old cousin Laurie lounges while she reads a book; because she has a heart flutter, no one makes her do any housework. On the other hand, Eugene is called upon to help set the table. While he is getting glasses for the table, Nora, 16-years-old and beautiful, bounds in. She is breathless and excited: At her dance class, the producer for the musical Abracadabra has offered her an audition. And if she gets the part, then Nora will be a Broadway actress and able to earn money for her family. But Blanche is uncertain--she decides that they should defer to Jack’s judgment (Jack is Kate’s husband and Eugene’s father).

Eugene turns to the audience as he writes his memoirs of these events: