By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Saturday
September 30, 2006
When you hear the play is about mentally handicapped adults, you wonder whether it will wallow in stereotypes and make fun of its subjects, or if the acting will be over the top.
You can set those fears aside.
For consistency, character acting and a quality cast, top to bottom, "The Boys Next Door" ranks as one of the most solid shows this reviewer has seen at the John Beasley Theater.
It's also highly entertaining - funny, insightful and at times quite moving, without ever disrespecting its subjects or subject matter. Quite the opposite.
Tom Griffin's 1986 script follows the lives of four mentally handicapped men who live in a group apartment, with the goal of mainstreaming them into the community.
Jack (Carl Brooks), the compassionate social worker whose job is to supervise 17 such living units, knows the guys will never be able to live on their own, that the policy is hopelessly flawed and that he is burned out riding herd on the antics of all these guys, year after year. He loves them, and they depend on him, but he's looking for another career as a matter of self-preservation.
Of the four housemates, Barry (Aaron Wilhoft) seems the most functional - he's schizophrenic, not mentally retarded - but his fantasy that he can be a golf pro and his issues with an abusive, largely absentee father (John Payton) show he's far from solid ground.
Arnold (Mark Feller), the ringleader, worries about everything. Jovial Norman (L. James Wright), who works at a doughnut shop and hoards his wares, is obsessed with his keys and his girlfriend (Mary Kelly).
A personal favorite: Lucien (Andre McGraw), whose mental abilities are described as "somewhere between a 5-year-old and an oyster," lugs around books he can't read and tries to recite the alphabet. McGraw's focus, and his physical transformation, blew me away.
As you watch the characters interact and manage household tasks, you get an inside track on their limited - but very real - hopes and dreams. They lean not just on Jack but on one another to get through the day.
Griffin dares to make their antics funny, but in a way that makes you warm to them rather than mock them.
You also see that community members and co-workers cheat, bully and verbally abuse them. And when the state decides Lucien is ready to go it alone, he has to go through the trauma of a hearing with a state senator (Brenda O'Brien), who quickly sees the truth.
Two brief scenes that break from reality to show you what the characters might be like, freed from their mental limitations, are also quite moving.
Pacing could tighten here and there, but mostly the show moves along nicely. Director Tyrone Beasley has pulled nuanced, specific performances from his principal players, any of whom could rate postseason honors.
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