The Sunshine Boys
Neil Simon
20th - 22nd and 25th - 29th November 2003
Directed by Simon Walton
The famous vaudeville team of Al Lewis & Willie Clark, otherwise known as 'The
Sunshine Boys', despite working together for 43 years could not stand each
other. More importantly they haven't talked wince Lewis walked out on the
team's final show 11 years ago leaving Clark, a die-hard New Yorker showman, to
soldier on regardless.
The attempt by Ben, Willie's nephew, to get the
obstinate duo back together one last time for a CBS 'History of Comedy special'
makes for "one of the great comedies by one of the great American comic writers"
Marvin Neil Simon was born in the Bronx on July 4, 1927, and grew up in
Washington Heights at the northern tip of Manhattan. His writing career began
when he joined the US Army and started to write for the Army camp newspaper.
After his discharge Simon returned to New York and with his brother Danny began
writing comedy revues which were broadcast first on radio and then on
television. Writing for The Phil Silvers Show and Sid Caesar's Your Show
of Shows alongside the likes of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and Larry Gelbart Simon
received several Emmy Award nominations for his television work.
He then moved on to the stage where he had a remarkable string of hits which
began with 'Come Blow Your Horn' and proved commercially profitable. At
times 5 of his shows were running on Broadway simultaneously, and his work from
this time includes 'Barefoot in the Park', 'The Odd Couple', 'Sweet Charity',
'The Star Spangled Girl', 'Plaza Suite', 'Last of the Red Hot Lovers', and
'Promises, Promises'. The commercial sucess was soured only by the critics
willingness to dismiss him as a mere "writer of gags."
Critical acclaim only followed later in his career, after Simon had moved to
California following the death of his first wife. (Later he married the
actress Marsha Manson). His autobiographical trilogy - Brighton Beach
Memoirs (1983), Biloxi Blues (1985) and Broadway Bound (1986) - was followed by
'Lost in Yonkers' for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
During the course of his career, Simon has won three Tony Awards for Best Play
(The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues and Lost in Yonkers.) He has had more plays
adapted to film than any other American playwright and, in addition, has written
nearly a dozen original screenplays himself. He received Academy Award
nominations for his screenplays The Odd Couple (1968), The Sunshine Boys (1975)
and California Suite (1978). He has also been the recipient of the Antoinette
Perry Award, the Writers Guild Award, the Evening Standard Award, the New York
Drama Critics Circle Award, the Shubert Award, the Outer Circle Award, and a
1978 Golden Globe Award for his screenplay, The Goodbye Girl.
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The Sunshine Boys, dealing with old age and its
inevitable crisis, may not be the most popular subject for your average theater
goer, but for me, it was the best work I had done to date. Structurally it was
sound, and its character delineation was accurate. I spent my life growing up
with these men. If they spoke in one-liners and punch lines instead of
conversation, it's because it was the only language they knew. Spend a few after
noons around the Friars Club, a hangout for aging comedians and a pencil, a pad,
and a discriminating ear will record for yot some of the funniest and saddest
dialogue you ever heard. A good play, The Sunshine Boys.
NEIL SIMON, Los Angeles, Nov. 7th, 1977
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The Bench Production
| Willie Clark | Andy Rees |
| Ben Silverman | Mark Wakeman |
| Al Lewis | Pete Woodward |
| Patient | Jasper Utley |
| TV Producer | Sue Dawes |
| TV Assistant | Vicky Hayter |
| TV Nurse | Sophie Stoppani |
| Nurse | Ruth Prior |
| Voice Over | Alan Welton/Darryl Wakelin |
Crew
| Director | Simon Walton |
| Producer | Damon Wakelin |
| Stage Manager | John Wilcox |
Setting
A New York Apartment in 1972
Act 1.1 - Wednesday, early afternoon
Act 1.2 - Following Monday, a few minutes before 11
Act 2.1 - A doctor's office - TV Studio
Act 2.2 - Apartment, two weeks later
Production Notes Director's Notes
from Simon Walton
The basic premise is simple and in my mind works very well given our often
sentimental approach to items of nostalgia. We often remember with
fondness the great shows of yesteryear only to find on second viewing that
either the people of the material wasn't how we remembered. Additionally
as perhaps older counterparts of Felix and Oxcar in The Odd Couple while the
anger and jokes are all there, there is also a touch of sadless underneath the
surface.
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