Theater: “Downstate” by Bruce Norris. At Playwrights Horizons

One never walks out of a Bruce Norris play whistling a happy tune. In “Clybourne Park,” he tackles the negative side of gentrification. “The Pain and the Itch” dealt with skin irritation in intimate places.

“Downstate” is no less sparing; its subject is child molestation. The setting is a dismal halfway house in downstate Illinois, inhabited by four male sex offenders.

The monotony of their lives—only occasionally disrupted by a bullet fired through the window by an unhappy neighbor—is suddenly interrupted by the appearance of Andy (Tim Hopper), a white professional who was sexually abused 30 years earlier. Still traumatized by the molestation, Andy belongs to a support group that advocates victims overcoming their trauma by confronting their abusers. He travels downstate from Chicago to confront Fred, his abuser (Francis Guinan), a portly, benign older man, who now moves around the house in a wheelchair.

Also living in the house is Felix (Eddie Torres) who had sex with his teenage daughter which he claims was his way of showing “love.” He tries to reconnect with her on social media—a no-no for sexual predators—and is scolded by Ivy (Susanna Guzmán), his tough-talking lady parole officer. Fast-talking Gio (Glenn Davis) is a “Level One” offender who claims his affair with a young teenager was consensual.

This sorry crew is rounded out by Dee (K. Todd Friedman), a former dancer who had a two-year “relationship” with a young boy while in a touring company of “Peter Pan.”

While all these crimes are unforgivable, Norris isn’t necessarily passing judgement. If anything, he shows how these men are continuing to suffer the unhappy consequences of their actions. What right, one of them asks, does someone like Andy have in confronting these people, who’ve completed prison sentences and who’ve been sufficiently punished for their actions. Norris allows you to judge who the real victims are.

“Downstate” is an audacious exploration of a taboo subject, complete with Bruce Norris’ customary intelligent writing and moments of humor. It premiered in 1998 in Chicago at Steppenwolf,  the theater company that never shies away from taking a chance. Neither should you. Go see it at Playwrights Horizons.