Next weekend a Dorchester three-decker will take center stage in Cambridge as The Foundry and True Rep Theatre present Jim Sullivan’s “Ellen’s Boys” on Oct. 4, 5, and 6. 

The play, directed by Donald Sheehan, takes place in 1965 and follows the lives of the six kids in the Flaherty family led by Ellen, their widowed mother.

“I grew up in an Irish Catholic family, there’s six of us. The play itself is based on my father’s mother, who we call Nana,” said Sullivan who grew up in Braintree.  “I chose Dorchester because we had gone to Dorchester when we were young. Nana was very big in our eyes,” he said, noting that his father had grown up in a two-family home in Dorchester.

He added, “The character itself is based off of her but the stories that happened in the play aren’t anything that happened within the family.”

Instead, the Flahertys had to come to terms with their identities and their quickly approaching decisions about their futures. This involves the storyline in which one of the sons, Gil, struggles to come to terms with his sexuality.

“Back in 1965, he would hide it. He knows that he’s gay, but he hides that because he’s Irish Catholic, probably goes to church each week, and probably sees a life of living with his mother,” Sullivan told The Reporter. “Then this person comes into his life, and he sees this opportunity that he can go and have a real life. That’s what causes the turmoil.”

Gil’s siblings also face their own challenges.

“There is the story of the priest and the son John, of molestation. And also, the story of the younger brother Michael who is in the army and is going out to Vietnam,” Sullivan said. “A lot of things that are happening within the family.”

As the Flaherty kids grapple with their destinies, Ellen is there to help. Sullivan describes her as a character “that everybody seems to identify with. They’ve had a grandmother like that, they’ve had a mother like that, and it cuts across all religions, it isn’t just an Irish Catholic thing. The character is universal, and I think the stories are universal.”

To learn more about “Ellen’s Boys,” visit 101 Rogers St. Cambridge at 7:30 p.m. next Friday and Saturday or at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $30 for general admission and $25 for students, seniors, and groups of ten or more. Tickets can be purchased at truereptheatre.com/Ellens-Boys.