Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Placing oneself inside the mind of a mentally challenged individual is neither an easy task, nor one most people would care to take on. Yet the actors and actresses in the school of performing arts’ production of “The Boys Next Door” have been assuming the identity of these types of individuals for hours at a time each night.
The play, written by Tom Griffin and directed by Sandra Hardy, follows the lives of four mentally disabled young men who share an apartment together in a group home. Their burnt-out social worker, Jackie Palmer — Jack in the traditional version but changed to a woman for this production — does her best to help them out despite the toll it is taking on her.
“It’s unlike anything we’ve ever done before,” said Sarah Mann, who plays the role of Jackie. “We get to explore the psyches of characters not many people get to explore.”
Mann said the cast was eager to rise to the challenge of portraying people with these disabilities. When speaking with the cast in the green room before a dress rehearsal, the emotional exhaustion of assuming these roles was evident. Each cast member echoed the other’s sentiments on the difficulty of getting inside their character’s head.
Ryan Jackson plays Norman Bulansky, a middle-aged donut shop employee who totes around a large ring of keys. He said this was one of the harder roles he has played because everyone acts so differently on stage than they do throughout the day. He said it has been hard to see his castmates outside of rehearsals because he is viewing them in a different light because of their roles.
On stage, the characters come to life. Each roommate has their own unique quirks that each actor seems to have worked to refine. The boys scurry, dash, dance and pace about the sitcom-style set, fretting over excessive amounts of Wheaties cereal, mowing down donuts and “reading” books sideways.
While the play is filled with funny moments, it is meant to shed light on the lives of these men instead of making fun of them. Audiences will be laughing with the characters, not at them.
“It’s not unlike life, which is simultaneously funny and sad,” Mann said.
Ed Benson’s character, Barry Klemper, is a younger man who has convinced himself he is a golf pro — though he still doesn’t have any clubs. Benson said Hardy, a directing veteran whose most recent productions were “Savage In Limbo” last spring and the musical “Sideshow” in the winter of ’09, has been a huge help to the whole cast.
“It’s great with Sandra because she makes you give everything you can give to make it the best you can,” Benson said.
Energized by a Beatles-heavy soundtrack, “The Boys Next Door” will give audiences a chance to witness people seldomly portrayed on stage.
The play opens Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Hauck Auditorium. It will run for two weekends until Nov. 7 with Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday performances at 2 p.m. Tickets are $7 or free with a MaineCard.
