Arnold, a manic depressive, Barry, a schizophrenic, Lucien and Norman, two men with disabilities, are "The Boys Next Door" and they arrive today at Riverland Community College.

The off-Broadway play, originally written by Tom Griffin, presents the lives of four men with metal disabilities living together in a group home under the care of their social worker, Jack. The production conveys a view into the everyday life of its protagonists and their daily struggle to cope.

"I like to do a play that is socially aware and deals with culture and everyday life," said Jerry Girton, the director of the production and the theater department at Riverland.

Girton found the play to be a good challenge for the actors. These type of characters are the hardest to make real and without falling into the stereotype that comes with it, Girton said.

The director, who has been working at Riverland since 1989, has directed more than 50 plays.

The characters make the play special. "The actors are feeling proud of what they have done.

They have made the characters very real and not stereotypes, Girton said.

Norman Bulansky, played by Alex Watson, has a mild mental disability and part of the time is able to function successfully on his own.

Watson has acted since his days in middle school. Playing this type of character is a real challenge because as he explained "you have to reinvent yourself. I feel very confident because we have a great show."

The 13-member cast has been practicing for about four weeks. This year, all cast members are current students at the college. The experience level varies in the cast, according to Girton. Some have done several plays and for others is their first time performing.

For Guy Allore, this will be his 17th show.

"I play Barry Klemper, a schizophrenic in his 20's who is very mentally ill, pretty unstable, but he is also extremely intelligent and resourceful." Allore said.

To portray his role, Allore read books on the subject of schizophrenia, looked at pictures and watched numerous movies with similar characters suffering from the same disorder.

Because Allore never had a character that was in control of their 'factory' he said, Barry was the epitomy of challenge.

Once he got into the play, he said he realized how much people make fun of persons with disabilities.

"The research I did was a bit of a wake-up call because I realize that this potentially could be me," Allore said.

The cast also had a social worker and a psychologist give tips and insights on how a person with a disability would act, talk, move and be.

To be Arnold Wiggins' character came surprisingly easy for Kurt Steinke.

"I was a shy, nervous person growing up … I thought of past experiences and exaggerated them," Steinke said.

The students have different expectations on the response the crowd will have to the play.

"One of the things from this play … we go through a day's routine and we take everything for granted. After the play, you'll see a person with a mental disability and you will refer to this play and see the problems they have with the most mundane activities. We will be able to see the world through somebody else's point of view." Steinke said.

The Boys Next Door will run at 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $8 and reserved seating is available.

Roxana Orellana can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at roxana.orellana@austindailyherald.com