Meghan Kennedy’s Napoli, Brooklyn is set in 1960 in the tenement house of an Italian family, the Muscolino’s. The mother is an excellent cook, while the father is a rough, abusive, difficult man. There are three daughters who share a bed: Tina, the strong, silent type; Vita, the sharp-tongued smart one; and Francesca, the spirited, energetic one who has recently chopped her hair to look boyish. The play begins after one of the sisters has been sent off to live with nuns after she had a major altercation with her father.
The first act ambles through as we try to grasp the not-quite-right family life and some of their outside relationships such as the neighborhood butcher, a best friend and a coworker. Everyone in the family is unhappy in some way and you can sense the tension bubbling under the surface. Then a major event happens in their neighborhood which changes everything. Act II propels us forward to a Christmas Eve dinner where the anticipated fireworks finally appear.
The play is stuffed with contrivances which pull the proceedings so far from believability that the ending ultimately crushes under the weight of so much junk to wrap up. The butcher and mother relationship in particular is overwrought and overwritten. I will say, however, that this play was ambitious and character rich. The mother’s monologue near the end was beautiful and touchingly performed by Alyssa Bresnahan. The director, Gordon Edelstein (Artistic Director of the Long Wharf Theater) did a fine job pacing the cast through this slow burn of a play through its explosions. The simple, effective set by Eugene Lee (Wicked, Bright Star) effortlessly supported the transitions from place to place and scene to scene without overwhelming the staging (unlike Marvin’s Room).
My favorite moments of the play involved the eldest sister Tina (Lilli Kay) and her own slow burn of a life as an uneducated factory worker. Ms. Kay and Shirine Babb as her co-worker, created a fully realized story arc with portrayals that grew organically from beginning to end. Everyone in the cast was at least fine and there were quite a few scenes that were excellent. On the whole, Napoli, Brooklyn reminded me of Naples, Italy – a bit rough around the edges but not without its pleasures.