Growing up can be a painful experience to some, while it can be a wonderful experience to others.

“Brighton Beach Memoirs” is a story which indicates the process of growing up of Eugene Jerome (played by Christopher Tormo), who is the central character in the play, Stanley Jerome (played by Chris Murphy), Eugene’s brother, Nora Morton (played by Tanya Gallagher), Eugene’s cousin and Laurie Morton (played by Sydney Weir), Nora’s sister.

The students’ production will be presented on April 2-10 at 8 p.m., and April 4 at 3 p.m.

Teens in transition as central idea

“Eugene is a 15-year-old boy who loves the Yankees and his passion is to write,” Tormo, 20, said.

“He loves his family a lot and he is in the process of discovering himself and experiencing new sensations.”

Tormo said the character he plays, Eugene, is energetic and he is at the age of learning about sex and love as he falls in love with his cousin, Nora.

Another character who has significance to the family is Stanley, who’s 18 years old and has lost his “much-needed” job when he stood up for one of his fellow workers.

Learning from making mistakes

“Stanley makes several mistakes; first he loses his job, and after the death of their father, he’s the only person bringing money to the family,” Murphy, 25, said.

“He then played poker with all the money he’s got, in hopes of making more out of it but instead he lost all of the money for the seven people at home.”

Murphy said that Stanley is someone to whom Eugene looks up to a lot, but Stanley himself is having trouble figuring out what he should do as a man when in his heart, he’s still more like a boy.

“Stanley doesn’t want Eugene to follow him or make the same mistakes that Stanley has made,” Murphy said.

Sydney Weir, 13, who is attending Madrona Middle School, said that her character, Laurie, is the youngest in the family and is a brat.

“She tries to get her siblings in trouble sometimes,” Weir said, “and she will pretend to be sick because she has a heart flutter, so she doesn’t need to help with work at home.”

But toward the end of the show, Weir said, Laurie will grow up and learn how difficult life is and she will stop faking being sick and help the family.

“Brighton Beach Memoir” is written by Neil Simon and it’s about his life in his early teens when his family was in New York under the Great Depression and pre-WWII era.

Family unites during hardest time

“The story is told from the experience of Eugene Jerome about living one week through the Great Depression with two families under a roof,” Ronald Scarlata, director of the play, said.

The theme, Scarlata said, is that the love and the bond of a family can get people through the hardest times, and how a family gets tested under pressure during the week.

Kate Jerome (played by Laura Flores) and Blanche Morton (played by Nora Roque) are sisters. Blanche and her two daughters moved in with the Jerome’s after Blanche’s husband, Dave, died from cancer.

Kate’s husband, Jack (Jack Weintraub), dies from a heart attack later in the play because he’s been working day and night to make ends meet.

Play may make young viewers think

The family is left with Stanley as the only person who supports it.

“It’s a chance for the younger generation to see what life was like under the Great Depression,” Scarlata said. “It also gives a chance for the older people to remember the time that they have gone through.”

Scarlata said that the family situation in the play can relate a lot to real life families, especially Stanley.

“As I have observed on campus, I think that Stanley is very much like most of the students here,” Scarlata said.

“He’s 18 years old with a dead-end job; he’s a guy in transition. He has made some wrong decisions and is trying to find what he truly wants in life.”

The setting and background of the story is a rather tidy-looking two-story house with two bedrooms, a livng room, stairway and kitchen.

To make the play more alive and real, Scarlata hired a dialogue coach, Peggy Flood, so the cast could learn speak in a New York accent.

Tormo, Murphy and Weir all said that they have learned more about the value of family and more about themselves through the play.

“Mr. Scarlata taught me not to act the character, but to be the character,” Weir said.”And from that, I learned that life isn’t easy at all.”

Murphy said that from Stanley, who’s trying to be a good boy but messes up all the time, he could see what he has done when he was 18.

Actors learn about family values

“We all have to go through a specific period to become a man or a woman,” Murphy said.

Tormo said that the play has made him realize where his family is from and what they have gone through, which has opened his eyes.

“Through plaing Eugene in this play, I’ve learned to appreciate my family,” Tormo said,”because this family in ‘Brighton Beach Memoir’ is a typical family, which is just like everybody’s family.”

Tickets are available at the Campus Theatre Box Office for $10.

More informaiton may be obtained at (310) 329-5345 or http://elcmaino.edu/thecenterforthearts.