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Theatre & Box Office |
Reprinted with permission of The Times of Northwest Indiana. Touching Dramatic Production Opens BY TIM SHELLBERG Stephany Mullen, co-director of Valparaiso's Community Theatre Guild's production of the comic drama "The Boys Next Door," hopes the play will be a humbling experience for its viewers. "It shows the world these four mentally challenged men and their ways of trying to be normal," she said. "We all complain about things in our lives, but when we look at them and the challenges they have, we shouldn't complain about those things going on in our lives." Opening today at the Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso and running through Oct. 16, "Boys" tells the story of four mentally handicapped men living in a New England communal home -- Arnold, Lucien, Norman and Barry -- and Jack, their social worker and "fifth boy." Written by Tom Griffin, who also penned acclaimed plays such as "Einstein and the Polar Bear" and "Mrs. Sedgewick's Head," "Boys" made its stage debut in Princeton, N.J., in 1986. Its small-screen adaptation a decade later, which starred Nathan Lane and Robert Sean Leonard, took home the Writers Guild's Adapted Long Form Award for Television. "(The play shows that) whatever their limitations are, they want the same things that we do," "Boys" co-director Mary Bird said. "They want a house. They want children. They want love. They want to be able to get on the bus and go grocery shopping. It's not such an abomination that they would want the same things that (the non-handicapped) do." The second production in the Community Theatre Guild's golden anniversary and revival season, "Boys" was first brought to their stage during their 1990-91 season and also was a winner at the Glasgow International Drama Festival in 1991. "The writing of the play really stands out," Bird said. "There's the humor in it and the characters are so innocent, but it's also got these very, very intense dramatic moments. There are a couple scenes in it that I think are very difficult to watch." David Pera, of Valparaiso, who played Lucien in the guild's first production of the play, is reprising his role more than a dozen years later, as is Sheri Nash-Braun, of Valparaiso, who is playing Sheila who befriends the four men. They are joined onstage by: John Evans, of Valparaiso, who plays Barry; Andy Urschel, of Valparaiso, as Arnold; Greg Pachnik, of Crown Point, as Norman; and Mike McCalment, of Laporte, as Jack. Bird described their production of "Boys" as an ensemble piece. "It's a very collaborative play and a very give-and-take process with the actors and the designers," she said. "It's not as if the directors are sitting on high issuing down edicts, and it's not as if you're going to look at one of the actors and say ‘that's the star of the show.'" Because of the play's mature content, "The Boys Next Door" is recommended for theatergoers 14 years of age and older. Next up for the Community Theatre Guild is a production of the musical "Annie," which is scheduled to open Nov. 19 at Chicago Street Theatre. "The Boys Next Door" is running at Chicago Street Theatre at 8 tonight, Saturday, Oct. 8, 9, 15, 16, and at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 10. onstage |
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