'Boys' Make Great Next Door Neighbors at FPCT

If the original FPCT production of The Boys Next Door, a comedy/drama by Tom Griffin, was half as good as the current revival at FPCT, it is easy to see why they chose it to kick off their 20th season.  The whole season is devoted to revivals of their past successes, and what a way to start!  Looks like a subscription might be a good idea.

 

I had a feeling the evening would be a good one just by looking at the advertising for the show (designed by Ken Stanek and photographed by Amy Jones), a clever play on a box of Wheaties, which figures prominently in the opening minutes of Act One.  All at once it gets at the theme and plot - "A Story of Everyday Champions", each character with a donut, another key prop - and character and theme- cast members looking happy, even silly, but like normal, everyday people.  That last bit is key, because when all is said and done, we are to leave the theatre thinking of the mentally handicapped as everyday folk with a unique set of problems, not as oddities.  How pleasing to be able to say that this production more than lives up to its advertising.  Directed with a sharp eye for detail and just a touch of sentimentality, by veteran Richard Dean Stover and acted by a completely professional quality cast, the show ups the ante for local community theatre.

 

What is most interesting about the show is the audience reaction (at least on the night I attended).  Much of act one was full of astonished, satisfied laughter, and perhaps a sense of relief.  I'd like to think that most people would be embarrassed to find themselves laughing at mentally challenged people, but the script and the characters are so well-written that one realizes the laughter is at the same things we find funny in ourselves and others - witty turns of phrase, everyday foibles, etc.  The difference is that as filtered through these men, those foibles are just magnified.  That is not to say the play doesn't have its serious, thought-provoking moments.  By the end of the play, we in the audience were feeling the effects of a highly emotional journey.  Whether we are silently rooting for love to find its way to one of the characters, mortified by the public's reaction to the men, witnessing the politics that govern health care or terrified by the arrival of one man's father, by the end one is spent.  I am certain that I am not the only one that night moved to tears and deeply touched.  Most of the credit for the experience must go to the cast.

 

Five of the cast members (four men who live together under supervision and one woman who the men know from "Center dances") are portraying mentally handicapped individuals with a variety of issues and specific challenges.  Clearly, they did their research, and combined with Stover's direction give amazingly detailed performances, which are never too much.  For me, the standouts among standouts were John Hurley as donut-loving Norman, who graciously answers every knock and bell ring with the same greeting, and Sarah A. Zietlow as Sheila, Norman's girlfriend obsessed with the coziness of Norman's apartment and a ring of keys that he has.  Watching the two at a dance and later on a date conjures up the full palate of emotions.  They are funny, yes, but sweet, innocent and very touching.  Then of course, there's Barry, played brilliantly by Russell Wooldridge, who suffers from personality disorders and currently believes he is a golf pro.  It is startling to think of how "normal" he acts - on the face of it; you'd never know Barry was ill - which makes it ultimately heartbreaking when witnessing his rapid decline following a frightening visit from his estranged father (played with raw fury by Dave Gamble).  He is first reduced to tears, and so, too, is anyone with a heart.  Watching a grown man curl into the fetal position and weep is disturbing and powerful.  His later, deeper decline is even more heart-wrenching.  In what must be a difficult role to play convincingly and without a trace of overacting or caricature, Grant Chism charmingly plays the permanently stuck in childhood Lucien, fascinated by his green library card and Spiderman tie.  It is particularly jarring to watch his Lucien go from sputtering, frightened child to fully functioning adult when he addresses the audience telling us what Lucien is really thinking, and then immediately back as fast as the lights change.  The effect is stunning and thought-provoking.  Finally, in the more broadly comic role of Arnold, John Pruitt comes on a bit too strongly, reaching a little hard in his characterization, but shortly, he brings it down a little and comedy ensues.  Ultimately, like the rest of his "roommates" Pruitt delivers a lovely performance, allowing us to laugh with, not at his Arnold.  Mike Robinson and Marie Kuchta each play a handful of small roles with distinct flavors.

 

Oddly enough, in the part of Jack, the social worker in charge of overseeing the men, Josh Waters provides the only real glitch in the evening, but by the end he, too rises to the challenge and adds nicely to the overall effect of the play.  It is his character who addresses the audience the most, narrating the gaps in plot, filling in details, and sharing what is going on in his life.  Unfortunately, Waters' delivery, meant, I'm sure, to be carefree and off-handed to belie a real love for his charges, comes off instead as either a monotone rant or a mumbled mess of ideas.  His timing is also less than ideal, occasionally grinding things to a halt and ruining the pristine pacing of the rest.  However, as Jack is called upon to rescue each character in one form or the other, Mr. Waters, like his character, begins to grow before our very eyes into a well-rounded interesting person.  And the expression on his face as he tells the men he is leaving his job as their caretaker and realizes he is breaking their hearts is extremely sobering and quite excellent.  The inner turmoil Jack feels, torn between meeting his own needs and giving up on the men he cares about, is clear.  It is in that moment that it is clear why this young man was cast, and speaks to the depth and difficulty of the role.  Ultimately, Waters, like the rest of the cast is a winner.

 

Technically, the show is also terrific.  The set designed by director Stover is at first glance a boxy, utilitarian affair, but it reveals upon further scrutiny a metaphor for the lives these men lead.  Meticulously dressed by Sherrionne Brown, the set is an unobtrusive, but interesting compliment to the play.  The lighting designed by Bob Dover greatly adds to the pacing, giving a clear delineation of time and place as the many scenes go back and forth between the apartment and a wide variety of other locales.

 

Apparently, the powers that be at FPCT felt that The Boys Next Door was one of their best in the last 20 years.  That is up for debate, I suppose.  But it is definitely the best of FPCT in 2006 thus far.  Go see this fine example of community theatre.  You'll come out a better person for the visit.

 

Advertising logo used by permission of Fells Point Corner Theatre, designed by Ken Stanek and photographed by Amy Jones.