From the Director of The Boys Next Door

Regent Theatre's production of The Boys Next Door, by Tom Griffin, opens next Friday, September 18th. Don't miss your chance to see this endearing comedy about 4 mentally-challenged men living together in a group home and their burnt out caretaker. Third-year MFA students Matthew Winning, Ryan Clemens, and Chad Rasor perform their thesis roles in this production, directed by Artist-in-Residence Mark Paladini. Check out his Director's Notes and a couple of the design and production photos!

"During this rehearsal process, several people have come up to me in the hallway and told me that The Boys Next Door is their favorite play. I had never seen the show, so I couldn’t fully comprehend their devotion until I began seeing the play come to life in rehearsal. What a joy it has been! I feel as though I’m part of this family of four mentally challenged grown men and their vocationally challenged caretaker. As I experience the play with this wonderful cast, I alternately see myself as one of “the boys” and then as their caretaker—to the point where I’m sure that every moment of this play is about me. It is, in fact, about us.

Moving on to a different aspect of the production, you might notice a nautical theme taking you from one scene to the next. It evolved from images I saw as I read the play for the first time. I kept imagining fish scurrying around a fishbowl, viewing the world through their unique lens while protecting their tiny plots of sand. As I reread the script many times, the image of the aquatic world kept returning with Jack, the caretaker, taking on the role of a holy diver, slowly running out of air. The more I read the script, the more the image grew and took on a life of its own. I can’t tell you how gratifying it has been to have my design team jump onboard and support this vision while honoring the reality of the world in which we live.

Finally, I’d like to briefly address the concept of a comedy about mentally challenged characters. Congratulations for not allowing the play’s description to keep you away from the theatre. I also appreciate the fact that our mild parental advisory did not scare you away. Tom Griffin has written this play with such love and compassion for the mentally challenged. By the end, I hope you will understand why this is now one of my favorite comedies. Laugh and enjoy. This is our life."

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Also introducing..... First and Second Fridays! This season, we'd like to get to know our patrons better. Following the First Friday performance of every show, patrons are invited to meet the actors in the lobby. Following the Second Friday performance of every show, patrons are invited to a Talk-Back with the company. We hope to see you there!