Characters

Characters
Arnold Wiggins: He is the first character whom the audience meets. Arnold exhibits several OCD traits. He is the most articulate of the group. More than the other roommates, he tries to function in the outside world, but sadly many people take advantage of him. This occurs in the first scene when Arnold has returned from the market. He asks the grocer how many boxes of Wheaties he should purchase. The clerk cruelly suggests that Arnold buy seventeen boxes, so he does. Whenever he is dissatisfied with his life, he declares that he will be moving to Russia. And in Act Two, he actually runs away, hoping to catch the next train to Moscow.

Norman Bulansky: He's the romantic of the group. Norman works part-time at the doughnut shop, and because of all the free donuts he has gained a lot of weight. This worries him because his love-interest, a mentally handicapped woman named Sheila, thinks that he is fat. Twice during the play, Norman meets Sheila at a community center dance. With each encounter, Norman becomes bolder until he asks her on a date (although he doesn't call it a date). Their only real conflict: Sheila wants his set of keys (which don't unlock anything in particular), but Norman won't give them up.

Barry Klemper: The most aggressive of the group, Barry spends most of his time boasting about being a Golf Pro (although he does not yet own a set of clubs). At times, Barry seems to fit in with the rest of society. For example, when he puts up a sign-up sheet for golf lessons, four people sign up. But as the lessons continue, his pupils realize that Barry is out of touch with reality, and they abandon his class. Throughout the play, Barry waxes on about the wonderful qualities of his father. However, towards the end of Act Two, his Dad stops by for his first-ever visit, and the audience witnesses the brutal verbal and physical abuse that obviously worsens Barry's already fragile condition.

Lucien P. Smith: The character with the severest case of mental disability among the four men, Lucien is the most child-like of the group. His verbal capacity is limited, like that of a four-year old. And yet, he has been summoned before the Health and Human Services Subcommittee because the board might suspend Lucien's Social Security benefits. During this panel discussion, as Lucien incoherently talks about his Spiderman tie and stumbles through his ABCs, the actor playing Lucien stands and delivers a powerful monologue that eloquently speaks for Lucien and others with mental impairments.
LUCIEN: I stand before you, a middle-aged man in an uncomfortable suit, a man whose capacity for rational thought is somewhere between a five-year-old and an oyster. (Pause.) I am retarded. I am damaged. I am sick inside from so many hours and days and months and years of confusion, utter and profound confusion.
It is perhaps the most powerful moment of the play. www.plays.about.com/od/plays/a/boysnextdoor.htm

Jack is the social worker for the four men. He's found hat he's becoming burned out and is thinking about a new line of work. At the end of the play he leaves the four men and becomes a travel agent.

Sheila : Friend of Norman, we see her twice through the show in romantic situations with Norman.