By JAMES D. WATTS JR. Scene Writer on Mar 2, 2013, at 8:54 PM Updated on 3/02 at 8:54 PM
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For the Depression-era realism of his settings, and the plainspoken earthiness of his characters, John Steinbeck was essentially a fabulist.
His best-known stories, such as “Of Mice and Men,” are about men and women physically, financially and emotionally adrift in the American landscape who seek solace and purpose in the smallest of dreams, and how easily those dreams can be destroyed.
“Of Mice and Men” may be the perfect distillation of Steinbeck’s work — in the simplicity of its story, in the directness of its emotional content, in the carefully stylized language used to tell it.
All these qualities are apparent in the American Theatre Company’s production of “Of Mice and Men,” which opened Friday at the Tulsa PAC.
Director Dan McGeehan, with the help of a most talented cast, has taken an almost reverent approach to this material, with a stately pace and a deliberate tone that couches the extended speeches many of the characters propound a kind of Shakespearean solemnity.
It also makes the moments when violence — be it physical or verbal — erupts more disturbing, because it means another small, fragile thing like a dream is about to be destroyed.
For George (Brian Rattlingourd), that dream is a small piece of land he can call his own. It’s one thing that keeps him traveling from one back-breaking job to another, in the hopes of getting enough money scratched together to make that dream come true.
The other thing that keeps George on the road is Lennie (Nate Gavin), a man of immense strength and child-like mind whose fascination with soft things keeps getting him into trouble — trouble from which George has to extract him.
They’ve arrived at a California ranch that has enough problems of its own — conflicts among the workers, exacerbated by the pugnacious attitude of the boss’ son Curley (Derick Snow) and the flirtatious attitude of Curley’s wife (Dara Allen).
It isn’t long before George’s efforts to keep Lennie out of trouble, and the little dream they have alive, come to naught, leading to the story’s inevitable and tragic end.
On stage, the best-laid plans for “Of Mice and Men” can go easily awry if the characters of George and Lennie are not absolutely convincing. Fortunately, that is not the case here.
Rattlingourd delivers a performance that full of nuance and subtlety, one that reveals the soft heart and the hopeful dreamer beneath the hard shell George has developed to withstand what life throws at him. When George describes the “little place” in his mind to fellow dreamers Lennie and Candy (Tom Berenson), the cautious joy that slowly infuses his voice and countenance is heartbreaking, as is his final scene with Lennie.
And Gavin is perfection as Lennie, whose child-like demeanor is perfectly realized and expertly maintained — his Lennie is a true innocent, even when using his strength to inflict horrible damage to others. Gavin is so believable that as a member of the audience, you almost want to save him yourself from the fate that awaits him.
Snow raises petty villainy to surprising heights in his few scenes as Curley, while Allen gives the often-thankless and underwritten role of Curley’s wife (she doesn’t deserve a name, apparently) a tenderness and humanity that makes her almost a tragic figure.
Berenson and Dominic Durant endeavor to bring some measure of dignity to their characters, the one-handed Candy and the crippled Crooks. Chris Williams emphasizes the simple decency of Slim, while Dale Sams bears down on the sadistic side of Carlson, whose hatred of Candy’s dog seems undue, given how well behaved Bode the dog was on stage.
Edward Durnal lit Richard Ellis’ sparse, evocative set, augmented by Aaron Veale’s sound design.
“Of Mice and Men” continues with performances at 2 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at the Tulsa PAC, 110 E. Second St. For tickets: 918-596-7111, tulsaworld.com/mytix.
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