The Boys Next Door

Biola University's Main Stage Presents:
THE BOYS NEXT DOOR
Written by Tom Griffin
Directed by Zachary Bortot

The Boys Next Door  was first produced in the 1988/89 season. The play, set in Boston, centers around four men with intellectual disabilities who live under the supervision of an earnest, but increasingly "burned out" young social worker named Jack. Norman, who works in a doughnut shop and is unable to resist the lure of the sweet pastries, takes great pride in the huge bundle of keys that dangles from his waist; Lucien P. Smith has the mind of a five-year-old but imagines that he is able to read and comprehend the weighty books he lugs about; Arnold, the ringleader of the group, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a persecution complex; while Barry, a brilliant schizophrenic who is devastated by the unfeeling rejection of his brutal father, fantasizes that he is a golf pro. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that people with disabilities, like the rest of us, want on

"Griffin's play hits squarely on the truth of life with its constant interplays and shadings of triumphs and tears." —NY Daily News.

"THE BOYS NEXT DOOR moves the audience to an awareness of how many things in everyday life we take for granted…" —NY Times.