Of Mice and Men

"A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who it is- as long as he's with you."

New Venture Theatre's production of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" runs from 2nd to 9th October 2010.

Director Tim McQuillen-Wright says of Of Mice And Men, "The play taps into the unexplainable nature of brotherhood. From his own experiences as an itinerant farm worker in the early thirties, Steinbeck weaves a tale about what it means to have someone to travel round with. The play precedes his own The Grapes of Wrath and while the characters in Of Mice and Men still have hope and their belief in the American Dream is genuine, so are the dangers when everyone has their own dream to fight for." Just like every other farm-worker in California during the Great Depression, George and Lennie dream of a piece of land which is all their own. Travelling from one ranch to the next, doing whatever work they can get; when the opportunity comes along to buy their own farm, their dream becomes possible and all they need to do is keep working and keep out of trouble. But, as with the mouse in the Robert Burns' poem from which the play takes its title, "the best laid plans" can be destroyed even by the purest of intentions.

Of Mice and Men has everything: A woman whose mere presence is enough to corrupt; murder; and themes of friendship and loneliness. Due to the intimate nature of the studio, the New Venture Theatre has always been able to showcase plays about friendship with great success. This production will certainly draw audiences into Steinbeck's tragic yet beautiful play.

Contains mild bad language.