The award winning play, "Lost In Yonkers", written by Neil Simon is a tragicomedy focused on the lives of the Kurnitz family and their days in Yonkers, New York. Neil Simon gives the audience a hint of what the play's about through its title. With the characters "lost" not physically, but mentally and emotionally, each character demonstrates that he or she is confused and lost in some manner. From Grandma Kurnitz who is struggling with being a tyrant or stern mother, to Bella, who is lost between childhood and adulthood, Simon highlights how highly dysfunctional this family is and how the title aptly describes each member of the play.
             Simon's play was written in 1991 as America was entering the Gulf War. It was a critical and popular success, so much so, that in 1993, a film adaptation was created. Even though Simon had previously been recognized for his other works, "Lost In Yonkers" is considered his best work and won him his first Pulitzer Prize.
             Set during the torturous years of World War II, Simon stresses the significance of survival. A perfect blend between comedy and drama, "Lost In Yonkers" puts us in the place of each character and engages us in their struggles as Jay and Arty have to move in with Grandma Kurnitz and Aunt Bella. In debt to a loan shark, their father Eddie is forced to bring the kids to his mother's house where he fears she will not let the children stay. With no alternative, the boys are left to deal with Grandma Kurnitz, Aunt Bella and her "issues". They also must contend with their Uncle Louie, Bella's brother who is a gangster in 1942 Yonkers.
             Survival is one of the main themes of the play, and Simon shows how each member "survives" by feeding off each other. Though each character has a different means of survival, the overall goal of finding a place in life where he or she is content is mutual. As soon as Uncle Louie appears in the play we get a sor...