June 28th, 2011
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Author: Neil Simon has been over-valued as an easy laughter merchant and underrated as a dramatic craftsman, honing his characters with warmth as well as wit and finding the tears behind the laughter.
Though “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” on stage at the Montgomery Theater, may not be in the same dramatic league as “Brighton Beach Memoirs;” the play that inaugurated Simon’s specifically autobiographical family trilogy, it is a warmly textured, affecting portrait of the solidarity of marriage in the face of life’s serial adversities — from the threats of looming redundancy amid economic meltdown to mental breakdown.
The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened in 1971 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and ran for two years. The stars were Peter Falk and Lee Grant and the play was nominated for a Tony for Best Play.
Simon’s play could have been written yesterday. The middle class still feels like it’s being snuffed out, unemployment has become the norm, crime has become commonplace and some people are on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Thanks to fine performances by Tony Braithwaite and Mary Carpenter, who bring realism and pain to the characters of Mel and Edna, Simon’s black comedy of living and loving through a recession resonates even more strongly four decades later. Moreover, director Tom Quinn keeps the pace fast, so that the beleaguered couple and their constant misadventures don’t overstay their welcome.
Simon titled the play “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” because Mel felt trapped by city existence — by the rent in a “nice” building and the expensive though insignificant trappings of successful city life, by the endless gridlock traffic and human noise that assaulted his ears and nerves and by the loss of his job that made him feel that he had lost control of his life and had become insecure and impotent. Then fear, anxiety and paranoia took over his life.
Simon’s play marries his trademark fast-paced wit with an at-times bleak view of American life. “Prisoner” is still primarily a comedy, but it’s to Simon’s credit that he’s able to mount a feeling of overwhelming claustrophobia on the merits of his quick verbal barbs.
Edna Edison is the epitome of the wifely wife, an at-your-service type who only wants her husband to rest, be happy and healthy, and not worry so much. “Name it, I’ll do it” is her credo.
Mel Edison, her husband, is a fidgety, nervous, overly intense man who can’t be calm when there are things bothering him. Those things include noise, smells, sounds, food and attitude. This couple lives in a 14th-floor apartment on Second Avenue in the early 1970s.
Obviously Mel will never get any rest, and Edna will live out her days unable to please her husband. Around these two perfectly mismatched people, Simon fashioned his comedy. Mel and Edna are hit by the misfortunes that befall folks in the big city. How they deal with those unfortunate situations is the core of this play.
Thematically, “Prisoner” is among Simon’s darker plays; it also happens to be one of his funniest. It is “Death of a Salesman” filtered through “All in the Family,” with Mel’s paranoid delusions much more amusing than Willy Loman’s and not as political as Archie Bunker’s.
Braithwaite and Carpenter demonstrate an admirable command over, and understanding of, their characters. Mel’s and Edna’s psychologies are as clear to us as our best friends, we know them, and we relate to them. Braithwaite earns sympathy for Mel, giving the blowhard just enough of a soft edge to make him human. And when Mel gets to be too much, Edna can go from doting housewife to fierce opponent with just a change of her expression, thanks to Carpenter’s deft performance.
In the second act, Robb Hutter is a wonderful surprise as Mel’s brother, Harry, and Ellen Ratner, Michelle Pauls and Linda Friday make a notable contribution in their scene as Mel’s indecisive sisters. Continued…
Neil Simon has been over-valued as an easy laughter merchant and underrated as a dramatic craftsman, honing his characters with warmth as well as wit and finding the tears behind the laughter.
Though “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” on stage at the Montgomery Theater, may not be in the same dramatic league as “Brighton Beach Memoirs;” the play that inaugurated Simon’s specifically autobiographical family trilogy, it is a warmly textured, affecting portrait of the solidarity of marriage in the face of life’s serial adversities — from the threats of looming redundancy amid economic meltdown to mental breakdown.
The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened in 1971 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and ran for two years. The stars were Peter Falk and Lee Grant and the play was nominated for a Tony for Best Play.
Simon’s play could have been written yesterday. The middle class still feels like it’s being snuffed out, unemployment has become the norm, crime has become commonplace and some people are on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Thanks to fine performances by Tony Braithwaite and Mary Carpenter, who bring realism and pain to the characters of Mel and Edna, Simon’s black comedy of living and loving through a recession resonates even more strongly four decades later. Moreover, director Tom Quinn keeps the pace fast, so that the beleaguered couple and their constant misadventures don’t overstay their welcome.
Simon titled the play “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” because Mel felt trapped by city existence — by the rent in a “nice” building and the expensive though insignificant trappings of successful city life, by the endless gridlock traffic and human noise that assaulted his ears and nerves and by the loss of his job that made him feel that he had lost control of his life and had become insecure and impotent. Then fear, anxiety and paranoia took over his life.
Simon’s play marries his trademark fast-paced wit with an at-times bleak view of American life. “Prisoner” is still primarily a comedy, but it’s to Simon’s credit that he’s able to mount a feeling of overwhelming claustrophobia on the merits of his quick verbal barbs.
Edna Edison is the epitome of the wifely wife, an at-your-service type who only wants her husband to rest, be happy and healthy, and not worry so much. “Name it, I’ll do it” is her credo.
Mel Edison, her husband, is a fidgety, nervous, overly intense man who can’t be calm when there are things bothering him. Those things include noise, smells, sounds, food and attitude. This couple lives in a 14th-floor apartment on Second Avenue in the early 1970s.
Obviously Mel will never get any rest, and Edna will live out her days unable to please her husband. Around these two perfectly mismatched people, Simon fashioned his comedy. Mel and Edna are hit by the misfortunes that befall folks in the big city. How they deal with those unfortunate situations is the core of this play.
Thematically, “Prisoner” is among Simon’s darker plays; it also happens to be one of his funniest. It is “Death of a Salesman” filtered through “All in the Family,” with Mel’s paranoid delusions much more amusing than Willy Loman’s and not as political as Archie Bunker’s.
Braithwaite and Carpenter demonstrate an admirable command over, and understanding of, their characters. Mel’s and Edna’s psychologies are as clear to us as our best friends, we know them, and we relate to them. Braithwaite earns sympathy for Mel, giving the blowhard just enough of a soft edge to make him human. And when Mel gets to be too much, Edna can go from doting housewife to fierce opponent with just a change of her expression, thanks to Carpenter’s deft performance.
In the second act, Robb Hutter is a wonderful surprise as Mel’s brother, Harry, and Ellen Ratner, Michelle Pauls and Linda Friday make a notable contribution in their scene as Mel’s indecisive sisters.
Today, Congress is grappling with an economic crisis that will allow the government to continue borrowing more than $100 billion a month just to pay its bills. In her emotional meltdown. Edna blurts out a dispirited lament that might come straight from a radio talk show of today.
“I thought we were such a strong country, Mel,” she says. “If you can’t depend on America, who can you depend on?”
“The Prisoner of Second Avenue”
continues
at Montgomery Theater,
124 N. Main St.,
Souderton, PA 18964,
through July 16.
Tickets: $22 – $35.
Info: 215-723-9984 or
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