Ellen’s Boys takes place over the course of a year, on the top floor of a Dorchester, MA triple decker in 1965 – the home of the Flaherty family. Ellen, a widowed immigrant of six, three girls and three boys, raised her family in the bosom of the Irish community, with a strong hand. At the start of the play we enter Ellen’s world as she busies herself caring for her grown son, Gil, who still lives at home. As Ellen plots and plans to find Gil a suitable girl, Gil struggles to come to terms with his own sexuality and wonders how he will ever make his mother understand. Ellen journeys through a tumultuous year in the life of her three boys. Oldest son John, a priest at the local parish, foreshadows brewing troubles in the church, while her youngest, Michael, recently enlisted in the army, meets a wholly unacceptable Italian girl. Ellen struggles for control as her boys' lives spin in unimaginable directions. Ellen’s Boys takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster of a ride in which no secrets are safe, no boundaries are respected, and only their love for one another, and their sense of humor, can save the Flaherty family.  Jim Sullivan’s finely drawn characters evoke nostalgia for our past and it is with love and humor that he reminds us why we had to change. 

Ellen’s Boys is a full length, two act play that requires a unit set. The cast includes 4 men, 4 women, and one boy (8 - 13 years old). The show runs about 2 hours and 15 minutes, with intermission.