THEATER REVIEW ‘THE BOYS NEXT DOOR’ : A Play Actors Love : The audience is in a quandary whether to laugh at or feel sorry for the four men. In the end, there is some consciousness-raising.

Tom Griffin’s “The Boys Next Door” opened off-Broadway in 1987, and has been a staple of regional and community theater groups ever since.

Its plot isn’t much, but actors seem to love the play--most of the main characters are mentally handicapped in one way or another, which gives the players an opportunity to practice for the next “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” the part of Benny’s friend on “L. A. Law” or perhaps a stage version of “Rain Man.”

Off-Broadway, the show attracted name performers such as “Cheers” bartender Woody Harrelson and Michael Jeter, most recently of “Evening Shade” and “The Fisher King.”

The current Conejo Players’ production, directed by Michael Tachco, runs Thursday through Saturday nights through Feb. 29.

The play’s “boys” are four adults who reside in a special home, under the supervision of a social worker. Two of the men are retarded, one’s a manic-depressive and one’s a schizophrenic. None is unintelligent; all are quite communicative.

Opening night’s audience didn’t seem to know whether to laugh at the patients or feel sorry for them (the laughter was louder than the distress), which may have been one of Griffin’s points.

Travis Michael Holder plays Arnold Wiggins, the manic-depressive, in degrees of nervousness. He starts as a relatively sedate Woody Allen, but by the play’s climax, he’s risen to the Charles Nelson Reilly level on the anxiety scale. Paul Rosche is Norman Bulansky, whose intellectual level, that of a 12-year-old, allows him to take a job at a doughnut shop. And Brent Scarpo is Barry Klemper, the schizophrenic who thinks that he’s a golf pro, though lacking any skill at the game.

Perhaps the most subtle characterization is by Mark J. Wylie, a newcomer to the Conejo group, as Lucien P. Smith, a 5-year-old in a man’s body.

Steve Keeley, another newcomer to the Conejo Players, plays Jack Palmer. A social worker, he’s increasingly desperate for a way out of this low-paying job, though he realizes the importance of his responsibility and his affection for “the boys.”

Of the female roles, the most substantial is that of Sheila (Carol Elaine Cyr), Norman’s girlfriend.

Basically, the play is about the interaction of these characters, though some changes in status have been made by the end of the show. Consequently, one’s appreciation of “The Boys Next Door” will probably be in direct proportion to one’s affection or concern for the characters.

To the actors’ and Tachco’s credit, each is a clearly drawn distinct portrayal, and “the boys” are an interesting cross section. Some people in the outside world take advantage of their mental conditions; others treat them as human beings should be treated. Exposure to these characters might even do a bit of consciousness-raising among the audience.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“The Boys Next Door” continues Thursday through Saturday nights through Feb. 29 at the Conejo Players Theater, 351 S. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks. All performances are at 8:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $10 Fridays and Saturdays, $8 Thursdays, with a $1 discount for senior citizens and children under 12. Season tickets and group discounts are available. For reservations (recommended; several performances are already sold out) or information, call 495-3715.