Production History Statement

Statement
While reading the play “The Boys Next Door” there were several issues that did arise from the text that would need to be addressed right from the beginning with the director. One of the issues would be to do non traditional casting or not, would it be possible to cast a full cast of mentally handicapped men bringing an even more resounding effect to the show, or would you want to just stick to the basics and have four actors ACT disabled. From the shows that I have researched there is a mixed emotion among producers and directors, some really like to have the realistic effect of having the real casting of the men while others prefer to stick with regular actors so its very interesting to see the differences in casting. Another issue would be how to design the set, the text is very specific on where each room is and where certain areas of the house are, would you go with a box set? A rotating set, would you divulge into a different outlook and go away from what the text wants?

There are also some very common issues with producing this play here at Sam Houston State, such as the casting as I mentioned before. This is the only key factor that I can find being an issue here on this campus because we have such a large variety of ethnicity and differences in many of our students , this show would be a perfect show to do but as I mentioned before, how would you go about casting the four men? I believe that if this show was done at Sam Houston I would recommend casting normal college kids as these adults and really get them to understand how these men would have lived and acted without trying to be “comical” about it because as young adults we tend to believe that just because mentally handicapped person is in a show that means we need to exaggerate their lifestyle and that simply cannot happen in this particular show.

From what I have researched I have seen some very interesting ways to put this show on. Many directors take the approach as I would have done here at Sam Houston State, however there are a handful of these shows done where the 4 men are truly handicapped and are phenomenal actors and it seems to really hit home for people while on the other hand if done correctly the show has the same effect with normal actors. Also it seems that most directors or producers go with the box set approach. Seeing the set as a whole really helps the audience go through this plot, it all happens in the apartment (excluding the dance hall scene which can be arranged in the set on a quick scene change) so every set I have seen for this show seems to go with a box set style which is how I would approach it also, even before researching the different shows.

This show is a huge hit off and on Broadway, when these actors really learn these characters and can soak up the pure joy that these characters have inside them the show cannot be disliked. During my research I did not find one critic who did not enjoy the performance they saw, everyone seemed to have the same view which was this show is a rollercoaster of emotions and the outlook on these men is truly something that everyone should witness. As I mentioned before ,however, this show must not be overdone and exaggerated because if it is, it will be viewed as harsh and insensitive so one must be careful when taking this show on.