Of Mice and Men
Written by John Steinbeck
Directed by Maggie Baird
20 – 25 October 2003
Two drifters, George and his friend Lennie, with delusions of living off the “fat of the land,” have just arrived at a ranch to work for enough money to buy their own place. Lennie is a man-child, a little boy in the body of a dangerously powerful man. It’s Lennie’s obsessions with things soft and cuddly that have made George cautious about with whom the gentle giant, with his brute strength, associates. His promise to allow Lennie to “tend to the rabbits” on their future land keeps Lennie calm, amidst distractions, as the overgrown child needs constant reassurance. But when a ranch boss’s promiscuous wife is found dead in the barn with a broken neck, it’s obvious that Lennie, albeit accidentally, killed her. George, now worried about his own safety, knows exactly where Lennie has gone to hide, and he meets him there. Realizing they can’t run away anymore, George is faced with a moral question: how should he deal with Lennie before the ranchers find him and take matters into their own hands?
Cast
George – Tony Bate
Lennie – Steve Hunt
Candy – Brian Roberts
The Boss – John Hyde
Curley – Michael Bate
Curley’s Wife – Michelle Pearl
Slim – Ian Giles
Carlson – Peter Richardson
Whit – Graham Frosdick
Crooks – Richard Malado
Crew
Stage Manager – Judith Brace
Set Designers – Maggie Baird, Judith Brace
Assistant Stage Manager – Elsie Bate
Lighting Designer – Peter Bennett
Sound – Jean Franks
Properties – Joanna Lovell, Mavis Richards, Nicky Bate, Sue Newman
Set Construction – Judith Brace, Migrant Workers