Ancient Greek playwright Euripides once wrote: “One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.” That sentiment is tested to the ultimate degree at Richmond Hills Players’ rendition of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men ably directed by Justin Raver.
In case you – like me – were not required to read Steinbeck’s iconic novel back in high school, and which Steinbeck himself adapted for the stage, the action takes place during The Great Depression. Times are tough and main characters, George and Lennie, are itinerant farm workers. George is good at living by the seat of his pants. Lennie is what we would call today “mentally challenged” and is obsessed with petting soft animals – but his heavy-handed affection often results in their death. Lennie’s disability also results in other bad choices which often require the men to relocate in a hurry. George has taken Lennie under his wing despite Lennie’s penchant for getting into trouble and George’s interactions with Lennie often appear angry and derisive, masking his true loyalty to his friend. As the play opens Lennie and George are on the run from yet another of Lennie’s calamities. They arrive at a farm where they meet up with other farm hands, an overly aggressive son of the owner and his flirtatious wife. George and Lennie reveal their mutual and likely unattainable dream, given the dire economy, to buy their own farm to escape the drudgery of their subsistent way of life. Lennie’s single-minded fetish is to be able to “tend rabbits.”
At first George is able to keep Lennie in line but, as things unfold, Lennie’s simplicity and fixation cause him to once again falter resulting in a tragic moral dilemma that forces George to prove the depth of his friendship with Lennie. I won’t say what that is so as not to dilute its impact.
Raver has assembled an impressive cast that includes RHP regulars Patrick Kelly as Candy, Mike Skiles as the Boss, and Kevin Keck as Curly. Kelly has been in several of RHP’s productions this season and he gets better and better with each role. The same can be said of Keck.
Heading them up are Kevin Maynard as George and Matthew McConville as Lennie. Both give excellent performances but McConville deserves an extra laurel for the nuance he gives to the very difficult portrayal of a mentally challenged character.
There was one little – shall I say flaw? George was just too clean in comparison to the other characters. Maynard is a fairly attractive man but this was the Depression. People were homeless. He and Lennie had been traveling for several days sleeping under the stars. Some smudges on the face, mussed up hair and even some underarm sweat stains would have made George blend in much more effectively with his appropriately grungy cast-mates. These little details help an actor develop the character and lend veracity to the portrayal.
Of Mice and Men continues at Richmond Hill Players Barn Theatre in Geneseo, Thursday through Saturday, October 10 through 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 13 at 3:00 p.m.
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.