Denver, CO 80230
Written by Tom Griffin
Directed by Katie Mangett
May 14 - June 11, 2016
The place is a communal residence in a New England city, where four mentally disabled men 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 we are reminded that the disabled, like the rest of us, want only to love and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time on this earth.
Director Katie Mangett has cast Andrew Uhlenhopp (Arnold Wiggins), Greg West (Lucien P. Smith), Luke Terry (Norman Bulansky), Joe Von Bokern ( Barry Klemper), Peter Marullo (Jack), Kelly Uhlenhopp (Sheila), Lucius Wall ( Mr. Klemper) and, in multiple roles, Anne Meyers.
In 1989, Tom Griffin's "The Boys Next Door" was the most produced play in America.
