But although it's my favorite of Simon's many works, I cringe whenever I hear that some troupe is producing this Pulitzer-winning play. There are so many potential pitfalls. If various key factors don't click, the show is doomed from the get-go. If they can't find a pair of convincing child actors, for instance, or if they don't have a credible tough-as-nails grandmother, or if the wacky aunt isn't able to make you both laugh and cry, this play will never get off the ground.

I'm thrilled to report there's a wonderful new mounting of the Simon hit at Village Players Theatre that features a terrific cast strongly directed by Brian Rabinowitz. Everything clicks. This production captures both the humor and the heartache in the script.

Early in World War II, two young boys are dumped on their stubborn grandmother and their wacky Aunt Bella. The women live above a candy store they own in the New York suburb of Yonkers. The boys' desperate father, a recent widower, has had to take a scrap-iron selling war job far away in the South. He's got to repay a loan shark money he borrowed to cover his late wife's hospital bills. The boys find themselves unwelcome, but they're precocious and resilient.

All the roles are demanding, but the early teen brothers are well played by Andrew Raia and Jake Walczyk. They're always in-the-moment with excellent diction and projection. These boys are on stage for virtually the entire show. (They also get most of the one-liners.)

This isn't like those old Shirley Temple movies where a charming moppet transforms crabby curmudgeons into cuddly, sweet old geezers. These boys have a grandmother who is devoid of warmth and the ability to change.

As the harsh, German-Jewish grandma, Deanna Norman is outstanding. The grandmother survived a harrowing childhood in Europe, then lost two babies and her husband while still a young immigrant in America. Life's cruel lessons have made her stern and joyless. Focused solely on survival, the cane-wielding old woman has no room for tenderness or affection in her life. Her forbidding presence provides the play's emotional backdrop. Grandma is a cold, stingy woman who rules her roost with an iron fist, believing boys should never cry. No one leaves her presence unscathed.

Playing the boys' sweet, daffy Aunt Bella is Stephanie Ganacopolos. Born with scarlet fever, the 30something woman has the mind of a child. Bella looks after her mother yet never receives a kind word from her.

Film-loving Aunt Bella longs to marry an usher at the neighborhood movie palace where she spends much of her free time, swept away by Hollywood romance. Her exuberance for life is squelched by her mother, but not extinguished. Only gradually do we come to understand the darker side of Bella. Bella's her mother's emotional opposite - warm-hearted and ever-eager to find love. For the show to succeed. Ganacopolos's open, vulnerable performance is as crucial as Norman's tough-as-steel disapproval.

The climactic scene where lonely Bella stands up for herself, letting go of years of pent-up resentment while demanding her own chance at happiness, is especially gripping.

Tough-talking, smalltime gangster Uncle Louie, the black sheep of the family now on the run from a local mob boss he's somehow aggravated, is portrayed with moxie by Steven Camara. The boys regard their uncle as a real-life James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart.

Excitable, hyperventilating Aunt Gert, played by Katherine Glavin, experiences bizarre nervous gasping and wheezing around her mother. The old woman clearly damaged each of her children to varying degrees.

Paul Chakrin portrays the boys' recently widowed, nervous, loving father. His tough mother mocks him for being the family crybaby.

There's a poignancy and an emotional depth here that's not found in many of Neil Simon's other plays. Brian Rabinowitz directs his talented ensemble with warmth and intensity. At the end, it's surprising to realize how much we've come to care about some of these characters.

My family was German, not Jewish. But I had harsh old relatives who terrified us, too, firing orders or yanking hankies out of their purses, spitting on them, and ferociously wiping smudges off our faces. I can no longer remember her stern words in German, but my maternal grandmother, a tough old gal who also had braids encircling her head like Grandma in this play, often barked, "Too much laughing brings the crying" if we were giggling and horsing around. Invariably it was true - we'd crack heads and end up in tears, break a lamp, or spill something. Her generation seemed deeply suspicious of joy and frivolity.

I love a play that makes you think about your own past and relationships. No matter what your age, this is one that will. Lost in Yonkers is very compelling.

Lisa Tiess is the assistant director. Annette Vargas designed the set. The stage manager is Michelle Springer.

The sound design, which includes such period music as Billie Holiday's "Summertime" and Bing Crosby's "Be Careful, It's My Heart," was designed by John List.

Doug Deuchler is a retired teacher/school librarian who, when he isn't reviewing local theater for Wednesday Journal, is a stand-up comic, tour guide/docent and author of several books about Oak Park and surrounding communities.