He aims for strong characters, not stereotype

John C. Picardi sees a lot of Italian-Americans on TV. And he doesn't like what he sees.

"There's such a small percentage of Italian-Americans that are involved in the Mafia," he says, "and the only things we really see -- we're cold-blooded killers, and the women are unattractive, with moles on their faces, cooking spaghetti. I come from a good, smart, decent Italian-American family, and then to see this on TV -- it's insulting."

Instead of writing letters to broadcasters, though, Picardi has written something else: a play. It's called "The Sweepers," and, after playing to strong reviews in small theaters in New York City, upstate New York, and Connecticut, it's opening at the Stoneham Theatre on Thursday.

"The Sweepers" is the first in an ambitious 10-part cycle that Picardi, 42, plans to write; the second play, "Seven Rabbits on a Pole," opens in New York at the same time as "The Sweepers" does here. Taking a page from August Wilson's book, Picardi wants to write one play for each decade of the 20th century, all of them adding up to a richer, more rounded portrait of Italian-Americans.

The National Italian American Foundation has given Picardi a grant for this work, a mark of support that makes him particularly proud. But he also hopes, as he says by phone from New York, that the plays will have meaning for the descendants of Irish, Jewish, and other immigrants -- all the ethnic groups, he says, that are often reduced to stereotype by popular culture.

"It touches upon everyone's history and experience," Picardi says. "What I really hate is what the media does to working-class people. Working-class people have built this country. They have built this country. And all we see is, if you're working class, you're automatically stupid."

In "The Sweepers," Picardi hopes he's created some strong women characters who are anything but stupid. "These women are -- I like to use the word `naive.' But they have heart; they have soul."

Robert Jay Cronin, who's directing the Stoneham production, says those strong characters were part of what drew him to the play. "The characters are these loud, funny, brassy women," Cronin says by phone during a break from rehearsals. "It's three meaty roles for women in their 40s, which you don't see everywhere."

Cronin was also attracted by the play's themes and its setting in time: at the very end of World War II. Picardi was fascinated by that historical moment, he says, because "World War II changed everything in the world -- and especially for women." In the play, the three older women come into conflict with a younger woman who has married into their tight-knit neighborhood.

"The story really is about old traditions vs. new traditions," Cronin says. He's underscoring the power of tradition with the set design, by Richard Chambers, which uses "brick everywhere" to create a shared backyard for the three women. "We're trying to create, visually, these walled-in courtyards," Cronin says. "They can't get out."

Local audiences will be particularly interested to know where those walls are: in Boston's North End. For both the director and the playwright, this Boston-area production of a Boston-based play is a kind of homecoming. Cronin grew up in Arlington, Picardi in Quincy, and so both are particularly eager to see how the play will go over with their hometown crowd.

"I'm a little nervous about how Boston's going to receive it," Picardi confesses. But he also hopes that he has created an authentic North End atmosphere; he lived in that neighborhood for a while and says he tried hard to portray it faithfully.

He's also excited to have the play opening on his home turf, even though he now lives and works in New York. He moved there after studying at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, but it's clear that Boston holds a special place in his heart.

"I miss Boston so much," Picardi says. "Boston has a real sense of community."

Still, the next play in the cycle will branch out a bit more. It's set in a suburban backyard, and it includes a character who comes from the Midwest selling rabbits. "It's about class conflict, finding love; it's about mistakes, about how history can repeat itself when you make those mistakes," Picardi says. "It's about lust and opera and tractors." And not a mafioso in sight.

Louise Kennedy can be reached at kennedy@globe.com.