'The Boys Next Door' Brings Laughter, Tears

Dealing with love and fear is part of being human, no matter your IQ. That's a common thread running through The Boys Next Door, playing next weekend at the Redondo Beach Playhouse.

The Boys Next Door, directed by Tom Torrisi, tells the story of four men, mentally handicapped in different ways, who live together in a group home. All have their own quirks, which develop into stories both funny and sad.

Tying it all together is Jacqueline, played by Catherine Shultz—the sometimes-narrator and social worker who visits daily. She cares deeply about these men, as well as the guys in the other four groups homes she oversees, but she is clearly burned out and struggling.

The four men are unique, drawn with depth, and brought to life by a talented cast.  

We first meet Arnold (Richard Sabine), a nervous, compulsive man who is probably enough like the engineer down the street to make you wonder if he really needs to be under anyone's care—at least, at first. Middle-aged Lucien (Tony Stafford), on the other hand, talks and acts like a small child.  

Barry (Timothy Sands) is unsettling: handsome, self-confident and completely disconnected from reality. He doesn’t jibe with our ideas of how the mentally handicapped should look. The fourth roommate, Norman (Max Cabot), matches the stereotype pretty well: slightly chubby, never making eye contact, a bit stubborn and repetitive, but sweet.

Playwright Tom Griffin gives us moments of laugh-out-loud wisecracks and pseudo-conversations in which the roommates ramble obsessively without hearing a word the others are saying, and it all rings true.  On rare occasions we catch a glimpse of what these men might have been; a scene in which Lucien straightens his posture and addresses the audience is truly heart-wrenching.

The first act sets up several potentially life-changing dramas: a budding romance; an appearance before the State Senate; a visit from a long-absent and idolized father; a bullying co-worker's demands.

"They never change," Jacqueline says of the men, but the play proves her wrong.  Lucien may never get through the alphabet song without mistakes, but the men rise to meet their various challenges. Sometimes they make progress; other times they fail, just like the rest of us.

The Boys Next Door leads you to wonder where the line is drawn between handicapped and the not-so-handicapped (the word "normal" seems inappropriate). Is the fussy Arnold all that different from Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon, for example?

As for Norman, well, who wouldn't whine about cheese stuck to plates while doing the dishes?

The struggles of Arnold, Lucien, Norman, and Barry strike an empathetic chord. In the end, none of the men seem very different from those of us in the audience.

The is the perfect venue for their story. The theater is small and intimate enough to make you feel that Jacqueline is confiding directly in you as she tells stories and make wry jokes about the men, her ex-husband, and her search for another job.

The play is produced and presented by the Art Attack Foundation, a non-profit group that involves community leaders, both businesses and individuals, in supporting young performing artists through scholarships, education and the chance to train and perform on stage.

The Boys Next Door is at the Redondo Beach Playhouse, located on 750 S. Inglewood Ave. Performances are April 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. and Sunday April 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 ($12 for students).