John Steinbeck’s classic novella comes to life this October at the Aiken Community Theatre (ACT) under the direction of Bob Franklin, who is taking a major turn from his guidance of last summer’s ACT hit comedy “Gibson and Sons” to tackle one of the major dramatic stories from the Depression Era of the 1930s.
The director explained his change of pace by explaining, “I have always been drawn to scripts that make audiences think, that are timeless in their themes, and that present characters with multiple layers.” He noted that he finds plenty to work with in Steinbeck’s intense, testosterone-fueled world of hard men fighting for survival during hard times in an even harsher land.
Bringing life to a play that has become a staple of school reading lists and whose story is already known by many audience members can be a real challenge for a director and the cast members. Franklin offered an explanation of the effort required to tell the story well. “The difficulty in performing Steinbeck’s script relates in part to the slang employed by the uneducated migrant workers of the time. Learning the slang is itself difficult. For educated actors, making the words their own is even more difficult. The tendency is always to substitute ‘correct’ grammar or well-known words and phrases for those written by the playwright. Steinbeck is an artist who paints on his canvas with carefully selected dialogue. The natural inclination to change the dialogue is like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa,” he explained.
“In addition, we have to choreograph a realistic fight scene and an accidental murder and an intentional mercy killing. And Lennie must show some recognizable characteristics of an autistic child while still delivering the lines he has been given.” Franklin said this is very demanding work for the actors and must be handled precisely.
The cast features leads Jason Latimer as George Milton and JC Crider as Lennie Small, two itinerant farm hands who move from job to job, paycheck to paycheck, during the Great Depression.
Also on stage are Curly (Taylor Madeiros), a mean and small man who uses violence to survive; Curly’s wife (Whitney McDonald), a lonely young woman who dreams of making it big in Hollywood as a way of coping with a loveless marriage; and Candy (Dave Howard), whose old dog was euthanized against his will and who wonders what will happen to him when he is no longer of use to society. There is also Slim (Kenneth Hendricks), a mule skinner who befriends George and who is the only character to demonstrate heroic qualities. And Crooks (Byron Bush), a crippled black stable buck who is relegated to living apart from the rest of the ranch hands, but who dreams of escaping the harsh reality of his life by offering to join George and Lennie and Candy in finding a little piece of land and, in doing so, regain some of the dignity he had as a youth. Other characters include Whit (Andrew Jones), and Carlson (David Werth), another mule skinner who enjoys having power over others – he is the one who insists that Candy’s old dog be killed. And finally, there is the Boss (Brad King) who does his best to fulfill the job of Superintendent for the land company that owns the ranch. He is tough but fair and he is also Curly’s dad.
Franklin named his final challenge involved in directing such a classic story. “For audiences to get the most out of this play, we (the cast and crew) must keep it moving at pace so that the willing suspension of disbelief never lags and audience members see themselves or people they know in the troubles experienced by each of the characters.
Tickets + Performance Schedule
“Of Mice and Men” will be presented at the Aecom Center for the Performing Arts home of the Aiken Community Theatre at 126 Newberry Street, SW in Aiken, October 17-26.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $17 for seniors (60+), $12 students/children, and $17 active military.
Tickets may be purchased at the ACT box office in person or by calling 803-648-1438 (9-12 and 1-4 M-F). Tickets may also be purchased on the ACT website aikencommunitytheatre.org.
