Dramatic Antidote : The Keith brothers say they revived the story of ‘The William’ as a ‘gentle, effective’ response to everyday violence.

BURBANK — It’s a homecoming of sorts for the Keith brothers, whose production of Jonathan Daly’s “The William” celebrates its 11th birthday--and a new revival--tonight at the Bur bank Little Theatre.

“My brother and I are into character-driven pieces,” said Christopher Keith, 40, who’s producing the play. “We’re bringing it back out because we thought it was time to put that message back out. Everywhere we see violence and mayhem, and this is about the quality of the human being. It also shows that so-called crazy people aren’t as crazy as we believe them to be.”

The eight-character play tells the story of a mentally disabled man--referred to as “The William”--and the new neighbors he befriends. Daly wrote the piece in 1982 for his now-defunct 30-seat Stable Theatre in Hollywood, where it had an eight-week run. Clete Keith originated the title role, and has played it in all subsequent stagings--in 1983 at Santa Monica’s Mayfair Theatre, for a 1984 East Coast tour, and a 1987 revival at the Stable.

“The William moves into this old run-down building, and it’s like he’s more sane than the other inhabitants,” explained Clete, 38, who is also directing. “He makes things so simple. Everyone complains about the hell they’re in, but he thinks it’s heaven. It’s the kind of piece you don’t see anymore. Nobody is hacking anyone to death or putting them in a trunk. It’s gentle and effective. You walk away and want to talk about it: ‘What’s going to happen to these people?’ ”

The actor originally scheduled for the role became unavailable, and the playwright tapped Clete. “We knew we had something special,” he says now, although he admitted that, in retrospect, they certainly hadn’t counted on the play’s longevity.

Raised in Los Angeles, the brothers are the product of an acting family: sister Kacey joined the Stable Players in ‘69; their mother, Dorothy, joined in ‘70; Clete came on board in ’73.

“We played six nights a week, 50 weeks a year,” Clete said bemusedly. “I did that for seven years. One time you were the lead, the next time you did props or cleaned urine off the theater steps. In the next show, you were the co-lead.” After his exhaustive theater stint, Clete wrote and starred in the 1989 feature “Dead Silence.”

Christopher owns the rights to “The William” (playwright Daly married their sister and now lives in Hawaii), and has made a point to use each outing to benefit a worthy cause. The 1983 Mayfair run, he said proudly, “made $30,000 for Special Olympics.”

At the Burbank Little Theatre, all proceeds will go to the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. and the Tri-Valley Special Olympics. In addition, two shows (closed to the public) will be performed for a young audience from Free Arts for Abused Children.

The producer is pleased to have reassembled the complete cast--except for the priest role--from the show’s original 1982 production. “It’s strange, but also comfortable,” says Christopher, who has worked in editing, special effects and TV animation, and is now a post-production supervisor at Disney. “They’re more mature, more solid. And they all volunteered because they love this play so much. No one even hesitated. They just said, ‘We’re in.’ ”

Where and When What: “The William.” Location: Burbank Little Theatre, 1100 Clark Ave. in George Izay Park. Hours: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays. No performances Nov. 26 to 28, Dec. 24 to 26, Dec. 31 to Jan. 2. Closes Jan. 16. Price: $12; discounts for senior citizens and groups. Call: (818) 980-2477.