Grandma Kurnitz had a troubled childhood as a member of a Jewish family in Germany in the early 20th century and after her marriage persuaded her husband to migrate to the US. But the harshness of the treatment she received in her homeland has made her intolerant of what she sees as weaknesses in her children and grandchildren. And while she is blunt in her criticisms, the writer gives an engaging mixture of laughter and melancholy to the reactions of those around her.

Neil Simon won several national best play awards when Lost in Yonkers premiered in New York in 1991, including the Pulitzer Prize. While he was renowned for the often slapstick humour of most of his works from the time he started writing in the 1950s, this one had very down-to-earth people.

Maitland Repertory Theatre is staging the play for a three-week season at its theatre from September 26. And, while it was chosen for the company’s 2018 season almost a year ago, the timing is significant. Simon died at age 91 on August 26 this year, so this production is a tribute to him as the writer of more than 50 audience-pleasing plays.

The show’s director, Leilani Boughton, made an interesting choice when casting the two brothers, Jay and Arty Kurnitz. Jay, who insists that people see him as 15½, rather than just 15, is played by Gabrielle Johns, and Arty, 13, by Ashley Davidson. The boys are onstage for most of the play’s running time of more than two hours, and Leilani was impressed by the auditions of Gabrielle and Ashley. She said that dressed in male clothes, the pair very much bring out the teenage nature of the brothers.

Ashley, 15, sees Arty as fun-loving and a bit of a clown, but decidedly honest.

The play is set in Yonkers, a large suburb of New York, in 1942, just after the US became involved in World War II. The boys’ mother has died and their father, Eddie, played by Matt Scoles, who operates a scrap-iron business, leaves them with his stern mother, Grandma Kurnitz (Helen Comber), while he moves around the country buying iron to help pay his wife’s medical bills.    

The other family members are his protective sister, Bella (Jamahla Barron), conman brother Louis (Campbell Knox), and another sister, Gert (Aimee Cavanagh), who is scared of her mother.

Lost in Yonkers opens on September 26, at 8pm, then has 8pm shows on Friday and Saturday, until October 13, plus 2pm matinees on October 7 and 14. Tickets: $22, concession $17. Bookings: 4931 2800.      

DEE Gatgens Johnson grew up in Newcastle and had her first involvement in theatre with Newcastle Children’s Theatre, which subsequently became Young People’s Theatre, and Newcastle University’s Student Players. So it’s logical that, while now a Sydney resident, she should choose Newcastle as the place to premiere a show she has written, Deanna: The Musical.

The musical will have eight Friday and Saturday 8pm performances at the Royal Exchange in Bolton Street between October 5 and 27, with a cast that includes some well-known Hunter actors – Natalie Burg, Andrew Wu, Malcolm Young, and David Gubbay – in its ranks. Tickets, $30, trybooking.com.

The show is a tongue-in-cheek fairytale which begins where others end. It is set in a NSW club where the title character, Deanna, Princess of NSW, is performing a song and dance act with her assistant, Irving, while touring on behalf of the Royal Family, to promote the continuation of the monarchy and selling a Royal Family beauty and fashion accessories. She finds herself increasingly wondering whether, after being married for 10 years to the NSW Crown Prince, Bruce, whether she will ever become the Queen. And, as things turn out, things happen that night that change her life.

The musical has a collection of colourful characters, among them Dame Doctor Lady Glad Spender, Deanna’s mother and a mega-star of stage and screen, and Stephanie, the Royal Family’s Fairy Godmother, who until her recent sex change was the Royal Family’s Godfather.