Central to the story is the bond between George and Lenny, two drifting
laborers who have wandered from job to job unable to find permanence
because Lenny usually gets them in trouble with his inability to make
critical judgments. A giant of
a man with the mentality of a child, Lenny has become George’s burden and
responsibility as he knows that Lenny could never survive on his own. Lenny
loves soft furry things (like mice and rabbits) but his inability to
understand his strength always causes him to injure or kill them as he pets
and squeezes them. George has
become the scolder, the disciplinarian, the provider. Played by David
Noroña as George and Al Espinoza as Lenny, theirs is more than a friendship.
They have developed a parent – child, love hate bond where George is
constantly complaining about Lenny but needs that responsibility to give
him purpose. The actors' genuine chemistry between them is evident on stage
as their characters' co-dependency builds to a shocking climax.
Rife with metaphors and foreshadowing, the play’s many levels
explore the anxieties and dreams of people who hope against hope, who dream
impossible dreams and in the end resign their lives to the meager day to
day survival at the whim of others. A
tragedy of epic proportions, it is a heartbreaking message of how human
love can lead to horrific acts.
It
could not have been an easy decision for Director Paul Lazarus and the
Playhouse’s Artistic Director Sheldon Epps to make their cast Mexican
Braceros. Oh, to be a fly on
the wall as they probably discussed issues like “should the actors speak
with a Mexican accent?” or “should they talk about their families back
home?” Braceros came to work
in the US with the purpose of saving money to send
back to their families. Steinbeck
wrote about men with no families and little purpose other than going to the
next job. How to reconcile the
two?
The
result is a marvel of compromise. An
occasional “Dios mio” (my God) – a sprinkling of Spanish expressions
here and there and a discreet sign of the cross by some men establish the
situation, leaving the director the freedom to pursue the original story
without imperiling its integrity.
One of the workers called Crooks, played
by Curtis C., gives a brilliant treatise on
being the only Black man in the farm, ostracized by all and never having
anyone with whom to share conversations.
His plight on loneliness and feelings of being trapped are not
exclusive to his race. He
speaks for all who are different, all who are shunned, all who yearn for
human contact. Playing a
humble, uneducated man, Curtis C. makes his speech an eloquent revelation of
the human condition. Thomas
Kopache
playing Candy, an old man who lost a hand at work, brings yet another dimension
portraying a man who had given up but manages to find one last glimmer of a
distant hope, only to see it evaporate before his eyes.
The pivotal role of Mae, the wife of the owner’s
son Curly, is flirtatiously believable in the hands of Madison
Dunaway. She has many of the
same issues of loneliness as Crooks, and her need for human contact is the catalyst that
catapults the story to
its tragic end.
Joining the actors above are Josh Clark,
Joshua Britton, Alex Mendoza, Gino Montesinos and Sol Castillo, all of whom
are excellent as they perform on a fluid set that floats seamlessly to
create a stable, a bunkhouse, a barn and a lonely river bank.
The entire presentation is part of OF
MICE AND MEN & THE AMERICAN DREAM” , A SIX-DAY FESTIVAL OF EVENTS
CELEBRATING LATINOS AND THE WORK OF JOHN STEINBECK. Dates are MAY 12
– 17, 2008.
There is also a wonderful
photo exhibit by Richard Stevens Street that features
contemporary photos of today's field workers. The exhibit
includes some selected works by the great photographer Dorothea
Lange.
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