'Boys Next Door' looks at challenges of the disabled

“We're not doing characters, we're doing justice to individuals.”

Jim Jarvis, executive director of the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, made that statement before the opening of director David Belew's affectionate, forthright production of Tom Griffin's “The Boys Next Door.”

Jarvis' remarks apply to any actor playing a role, but they have a particular resonance when applied to Griffin's gentle 1980s comedy about a group of developmentally disabled men and the increasingly overwhelmed social worker who looks after them. Jarvis prefaced his curtain speech with a story about a call he received from a subscriber who questioned why Metropolis would do a show making fun of “those people,” meaning people with disabilities.

Jarvis assured the caller that “we're not making fun of anybody. We're sharing their lives.”

Indeed, Griffin reflects with pathos and humor the challenges and the triumphs these individuals face. A made-for-TV sensibility underscores the play that Hallmark Hall of Fame brought to the small screen 15 years ago in a production featuring Nathan Lane, Courtney B. Vance, Michael Jeter and Robert Sean Leonard.

Negotiating Griffin's emotional, sometimes contrived script poses a challenge for directors and actors who must tread carefully lest they turn characters into caricatures and sentiment into schmaltz. Belew and his cast — who prepared for their roles by talking with special needs individuals and people who work with them — make these characters credible.

They introduce us to men whose capacity for compassion and willingness to forgive is exceeded only by their resolve to brave the challenges they face, a point poignantly made by Lucien, the man-child who confronts the audience with their worst fears.

“Boys” unfolds as a series of vignettes depicting the sometimes chaotic, often comedic lives of four mentally challenged men sharing a modest apartment.

There's Arnold (the frenetic, funny Andrew J. Bond), a garrulous, neurotic man who's taken advantage of by store clerks and co-workers, but who takes charge at home. He shares a room with the donut-loving Norman (an endearing David Elliot) who begins a romance with Sheila (Denise Tamburrino), a woman he meets at the local community center.

Meanwhile, Lucien (Bear Bellinger, nearly stealing the show with his quietly moving portrayal) prepares to face state legislators who have cut his benefits — even though the audience is told that his “capacity for rational thought is somewhere between a 5-year-old and an oyster.” Barry (Adam Kander), a 28-year-old schizophrenic who fancies himself a golf pro, prepares to reunite with his long-estranged father, a brief but pivotal role played with unflinching ferocity by Brian Rabinowitz.

Serving as caretaker is Jack (Michael B. Woods), who after only eight months on the job already suffers from burnout. Injecting a hint of mania into Jack's desperation, Woods' performance suggests a man on the emotional edge, a state underscored by designer Yousif Mohamed, whose lighting makes Jack's exhaustion palpable.

Also deserving mention is the attractive set by designer Adam L. Veness, an Anytown USA cottage that transforms (noisily) into a home inhabited by some remarkable individuals.

<b>“The Boys Next Door”</b>

★ ★ ★

<b>Location:</b> Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com

<b>Showtimes:</b> 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 20; also 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26

<b>Running time:</b> About two hours, 15 minutes, with intermission

<b>Tickets:</b> $35-$43

<b>Parking:</b> Free in garage adjacent to theater; street parking available

<b>Rating:</b> For most audiences