THEATER : His First Love : With his semi-autobiographical play, Douglas Maletz has finally fulfilled his dream of writing.

The words flashed on the computer screen, but they didn’t belong to him. They came from his wife, who was writing a novel.

Douglas Maletz read her work and decided that it was time. His time.

“I was supposed to be the writer in the family, and here she was the one who was writing and not just talking about it,” said Maletz, who was working as an accountant. “Meanwhile, I was still in a dream world.”

Three years later, his dream has made it to this world.

“I did it,” said Maletz, 37, whose semi-autobiographical play, “I Always Wanted to Love You,” will be presented the next two weekends at the West Valley Jewish Community Center in West Hills. “This isn’t Broadway, but I did it.”

The play, which features music written by Maletz, is the first original production put on at the center.

“We’ve always done established plays,” said Seville Porush, the center’s cultural arts director. “But we like this play and were willing to give it a chance.”

Maletz regrets that he hasn’t shown the same kind of boldness toward his writing. After writing a play in his senior year at Chatsworth High School, he enrolled as a premed student at UCLA. His parents didn’t believe that he would make a living as a writer and encouraged him to pursue a more stable profession.

But he demonstrated little aptitude for science. Almost by default, he chose accounting and transferred to Cal State Northridge.

“I was in a hurry to graduate college with something to guarantee me a job,” Maletz said. “I was good in math.”

For years, he said, he partly resented his parents for discouraging his writing. Then he discovered another truth about his past.

“It dawned on me that I was the one who didn’t pick up the pencil in all those years,” he said. “I know that they had my best interests in mind.”

At first, when his wife, Nancy, a marriage and family therapist, talked about writing a novel about psychotherapy, Maletz wasn’t too supportive.

At the same time, a cousin, Jan Maletz, fulfilled a lifetime goal by building a house. That also made him realize that he hadn’t pursued his own dreams.

Maletz started to write about his youth but found it boring. He read a book about dramatic writing and decided to slightly exaggerate the characters from his life.

The play centers on a guy in his late 30s who, after a 14-year separation from his family, returns home to New York, knowing that he has failed to live up to their expectations. He has married a non-Jewish woman, which also causes tension in the family. Meanwhile, his sister has bowed to family pressures and married a successful doctor but is unhappy and childless.

In reality, although Maletz had no contact with his family for about six months at one point, he did marry a Jewish woman and feels that he has a good relationship with his parents.

“I think the lesson in the play is that you can still be yourself and be part of the family,” he said. “Otherwise, if you’re not yourself, you will die psychologically.”

The project was perfect for director Richard Stobie.

“I like to do anything that has to do with families,” said Stobie, who directed Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite” at the center last year, “especially all that dysfunctional stuff. What I like about this play is that while everyone might be fighting, it’s all based on a real connection.”

Where and When Play: “I Always Wanted to Love You.” Location: West Valley Jewish Community Center, 22622 Vanowen St., West Hills. Hours: 8 p.m. Saturday and Jan. 16, and 2 p.m. Sunday and Jan. 17. Price: $10 for center members, $12.50 non-members. Call: (818) 587-3300.