John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men remains a powerful, poignant story of dreams, hardship, and human connection. As the Octagon Theatre prepares to stage this classic, Ian Cheeseman explores how the production navigates its historical challenges while resonating with modern audiences.
OF Mice and Men is a novel, written by John Steinbeck back in 1937, about two migrant works as they search for jobs during the Great Depression.
You’ll be familiar with the title even if you’ve not read the book, watched the film of seen the play.
The expression of “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” comes from a Robbie Burns poem which inspired Steinbeck’s book. Look out for that one next time you’re watching catchphrase with the omnipresent Stephen Mulhern.
It’s a book that’s often taught in schools, but has sometimes been banned for offensive and racist language. Quite a challenge for the creatives performing the show for modern day audiences, which is exactly what director Sarah Brigham has done, for their three week stay at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton from March 26.
Larry Pears plays Slim, a mule skinner (not literal, it means in charge of the mules!), “Steinbeck lived through the era of the dustbowl and wrote his book and the play about his experiences. It’s a very rich story about friendships and camaraderie. There are twelve characters in the play and every one of them is lonely, in their own way. Food, money and jobs were scarce at that time, so everyone was looking after themselves and didn’t trust anyone else.
“We were aware of the controversy around the original play, with the use of language. We discussed it with the black member of our cast. We decided we didn’t want the N word to dominate the show and leave audiences, particularly school children, thinking that’s all the show is about. We wanted to make it more about the friendships, so we’ve put different words in but still designed to convey the inappropriateness of the times, using the word coloured for example.”
If you love comedy, you might have seen Larry Pears in very different roles. “I work with the Mischief company quite a lot. The last one I did was Magic Goes Wrong, working with Penn and Teller, which requires a very different skill set. In comedy you get to illicit laughter, so you know instantly if it’s working. With Of Mice and Men you only know at the end, when the lights come up, and everyone’s in tears, if the show has worked. It seems to be a huge success, we’ve been getting standing ovations on the tour so far.”
Tameside’s Jonathan Sayer, who’s not only a writer and performer for Mischief, that has The Play that Goes Wrong that has been running in the West End for over a decade, but is also joint Chairman of Ashton United Football Club, is co-founder of Mischief.
Larry knows Jonathan well, having done several shows with his company, “I’ve known Jonathan since we were at drama school where I was a couple of years ahead of him. He shot ahead of me in the industry but remembered me. He is such an engine of a human being.
“He’s got his fingers in so many pies including his local football club. He does tons of charity work, which he doesn’t publicise. I remember going into the Play that Goes Wrong at a cast change, when they had two weeks off for the first time in two of three years. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He decided to do an improv workshop in a hospital up the road, so I joined him to do this with a load of kids on the ward. He doesn’t really know how to stop but his way of letting off steam is so giving. He’s a remarkable human being.”
Of Mice and Men will be at Bolton Octagon from Wednesday, March 26 to Saturday, April 12, and if you have the time, I’d recommend their kitchen and bar for a pre-theatre meal, and it’s free parking near the theatre from 6pm.
For more information and tickets visit: www.octagonbolton.co.uk/events/of-mice-and-men
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