Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

filmed live performance from the Longacre Theater (Broadway) seen on 19 November 2015

John Steinbeck adapted his own novel for the stage in 1937. This production, the last performance of which was filmed in July 2014, was directed by Anna D. Shapiro and starred James Franco as George and Chris O'Dowd as Lenny.

The play hinges on the two man characters, of course, and here were two actors who worked together extremely well to picture the awkward mutual dependence of two poor men moving through 1930s America looking for agricultural work. George protects Lenny, who is variously described as 'nuts' and 'not bright' - he is as simple-minded as a two year old, with a dangerous lack of awareness for the consequences of his actions, but with enormous strength. George knows that if Lenny works in peace all will be well, but he is also mindful that Lenny can easily get himself into trouble. In the end, tragedy prevails.

James Franco was a likeable George, determined, patient, aware of life but perhaps not totally aware of how significant Lenny is to his dreams until it is too late. Chris O'Dowd gave a superb performance of Lenny, perfectly capturing the physical lumbering and awkwardness, the confused attempts to behave well and please George, and the utter bewilderment resulting from any threat or unexpected situation. It is really hard to portray this sort of character without falling into cliche or sentimentality, but O'Dowd managed it brilliantly.

The supporting cast was also strong, particularly Jim Norton's Candy, devastated by the insistence of his cabinmates that his old dog be shot, and then terribly hopeful that he can live out his old age in Lenny and George's dream, and Leighton Meester as the hapless wife of the vicious Curly (the overseer's son), whose unthinking flirtatiousness and disaffection trigger the final catastrophe.

For those fresh to the piece, this was a moving production. The novel is a classic, and so prevalent on school syllabuses, and the situations and characters may be too broadly drawn for current tastes, but the cast handled it well, and the detailed set, though requiring some rather awkward dimly lit re-arrangements between scenes, added to the atmosphere of downtrodden hopelessness.