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<b>by John Steinbeck, directed by Dennis Garnhum
CanStage/Theatre Calgary, Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto
October 13-November 11, 2006
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CanStage has opened its new season with a superb production of <i>Of Mice and Men</i>, a play adapted by John Steinbeck in 1937 from his own novel. There is not a weak link in the cast who under Dennis Garnhum’s meticulous direction deliver beautifully understated performances devoid of melodrama or sentimentality. The result is a compelling production where the action moves forward slowly but inexorably toward its emotionally devastating conclusion.
We follow two itinerant farmhands, the quick-witted George (Shaun Smyth) and the mentally “slow” friend (Ashley Wright) as they seek work in Depression-era California and dream of sometime having their own place where they are their own bosses. The farm where they find work is itself filled with misfits who cope with loneliness and unfulfilled dreams in ways ranging from acquiescence to violence.
With firmly bridled intensity Smyth fully conveys George’s internal conflicts as caretaker by necessity of Lenny, a man who could otherwise survive on his own. Wright, in an outstanding performance, resists any temptation to sugarcoat our view of Lenny, a good-natured man whose uncontrollable strength also makes him dangerous. The restraint in their portrayals only increases their emotional impact. In Garnhum’s hands Steinbeck’s themes of existential isolation and the need for an equitable society have never seemed more urgent or more modern.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in <i>Eye Weekly</i> 2006-10-26.
Photo: Shaun Smyth and Ashley Wright. ©2006
<b>2006-10-26</b>
<b>Of Mice and Men</b>