It is not easy to stage a fast-paced, wisecracking comedy like Neil Simon’s 1982 play Brighton Beach Memoirs but MADC have managed to do just that in their production currently running at the Playhouse in Santa Venera, under Tyrone Grima’s excellent direction.

I had no expectations going to watch the play last Friday – I was just interested to see how the complex domestic scenes, shifting from one room to another and moving from indoor to outdoor spaces would work in such a restricted space, and I was very pleasantly surprised.

Rachel Galea’s clever and compact set design and construction allowed for the seamless movement that some scene changes required – from living room to staircase, bedroom and front yard. Simon’s script has just the right balance of dynamic one-liners, and cheeky conversations with a judicious scattering of pathos. Indeed, he strikes a very finely tuned compromise between the hilarity of living in a working-class Jewish family and the poignancy of the interpersonal relationships with all the tensions that arise when characters who genuinely love each other are also in opposition.

The cast of Brighton Beach Memoirs. Photos: Justin Mamo

Set in 1937, Brooklyn, New York, this kitchen-sink dramedy takes place against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the looming horrors of World War II.

Recounted by 15-year-old Eugene Morris Jerome, whose interests are baseball, a budding realisation that women’s bodies are the forbidden fruit he craves, and his family relationships, this engaging and endearing coming-of-age story could not have had a better lead than Luke Chappelle as Eugene. This young man is going places. His energy and the great dynamic he had with the rest of the cast were incredibly enjoyable to see, and the entire cast sustained solid New York accents throughout the performance.

Leah Grech and Thea Costa

His relationship with his mother (Antonella Axisa) and father (Edward Caruana Galizia) is typical of many teenage boys and is still relevant in the contemporary period, as is his relationship with his brother Stanley (Bernard Zammit) and cousins – the pampered and delicate younger girl, Laurie (Leah Grech) and her older sister Nora (Thea Costa) on whom Eugene develops a crush. Thrown into the mix is his widowed aunt Blanche (Erica Muscat), who has been taken in, along with her daughters, by her motherly older sister, Kate.

There were poignant moments between the sisters in act two that brought the actors’ abilities to the fore – particularly in the escalation of an argument between Axisa and Muscat’s characters and their subsequent reconciliation. Their nuanced and very credible performances were noteworthy.

Luke Chappell and Erica Muscat

I also happened to experience an affinity for a character’s behaviour and thought process in a new way I had not yet experienced at the theatre. Caruana Galizia’s portrayal of Jack Jerome, in his fatherly interactions with Stanley, Nora and Eugene, was moving because it came across as being so heartfelt.

In turn, Stanley’s comedic, forthright and occasionally bumbling character and Nora’s own dilemma between education and work, link to their tenuous issues with their parents, combining their love and respect for Jack and Blanche respectively, with their own desire to assert their independence: which both Zammit and Costa handled admirably. The talented Grech also gave a very enjoyable performance as Eugene’s younger cousin Laurie.

With a strong overall effect of comedic cohesion, the dynamic between the cast could not have been better. The pacing was fast, slick and tight in all the right instances and the entire development was a pleasure to watch. I cannot recommend this play enough – it is an absolute must-see performance and more’s the pity that it only runs until today. Bravo to all.