"The best laid plans of mice and men/often go awry" -- Robert Burns: To a Mouse
Every character in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is crippled in one way or another [whether physically, psychologically, or by circumstance], and each seeks a way out from a Depression Era California working ranch. -- Money is tight, emotions run high, and manual labor takes its toll; the only relief for the men seems to come from gambling, drinking, and whoring.
Friday night's sold-out audience at Prattville's Way Off Broadway Theatre were engaged in director Melissa Strickland's interpretation of Steinbeck's classic. -- Though the lengthy scene changes allowed audiences to disengage temporarily, and some rapid and soft-spoken informative dialogue was hard to hear, her acting company of nine men and one woman told a clear story and kept our interest.
From the outset, it is clear that something will definitely "go awry" as the two central characters meet by a riverbank to plan the next stage in achieving their version of the American Dream: to save enough money to buy a property where they can raise rabbits and "live off the fat of the land". -- George [Stefan McCain] warns Lennie [Josh Williams] that if anything goes wrong at their new job, they should meet back in this spot to avoid any repercussions. -- Lennie is a simple-minded giant who unintentionally has killed some small furry animals and was recently accused of molesting a woman, foreshadowing much of what is to come here. George has been Lennie's protective companion for many years, and is his guide.
When they arrive at the ranch, they are met by an array of misfits and outsiders: Candy [Rodney Winter], an older man who is missing a hand and has an old dog in tow; Slim [Mike Blackburn], the most respected of the team; Carlson [Reid Brand], Whit [Kaden Blackburn], the Boss [Andrew Edwards] and his son Curley [Gage Parr] whose Napoleon complex makes him suspicious of anyone who so much as looks at his Wife [Stephanie Higley], and Crooks [Anfernee Ellis], an injured Negro who is kept separate from the others because of his race.
Tensions build as Curley instantly dislikes and later provokes Lennie; and his Wife's persistent and provocative intrusions into the men's lives bodes the tragedy to come. -- In a pivotal scene between Lennie and Crooks which develops into sensitive understandings between them, and is later interrupted by Candy and George, and then Curley's Wife, there follows a rather quick denouement.
While the cohort of men are away, Curley's Wife admits to Lennie that she doesn't like her husband and is leaving; but when she allows Lennie to stroke her soft hair and things get out of hand, his attempts to quiet her lead to her death, and Lennie says to himself "I done a bad thing" and runs to the riverbank to hide.
Mr. Williams has sustained audience sympathy through his full commitment to the role, emerging as the signal talent on the WOBT stage. And, while we understand the difficult decision that Mr. McCain's George is compelled to take to save Lennie's dignity, the impact is enormous.
