Students bring timeless novel to life

John Steinbeck’s classic novel “Of Mice and Men” might be, for many, a distant required reading from high school. It is much more than that, however, for the cast and crew of Shafer Street Playhouse’s “Of Mice and Men” production, running Friday May 1 through Sunday May 3 at the Newdick Theatre.

The production started as a proposal submitted by two theater performance seniors, Zach Finch and Anthony Giamichael. Once the play was approved by the Shafer Alliance Laboratory Theatre Board, Giamichael asked Greg Scurria, the assistant professor of audition technique class and a theater pedagogy graduate student to direct the piece.

“I read (the script) a couple of times,” Scurria said. “I thought it was a really great story and it had some great messages to send, so within a week, I did a crash course and decided I wanted to work on it.”

The lead roles of George and Lennie were to be filled by Giamichael and Finch respectively, facilitating the audition process for Scurria. He said the cast practically picked itself, as he chose people who “bounced” off of Giamichael and Finch.

According to Finch and Scurria there were a couple of challenges, such as dealing with the depressing nature of the play.

“We did a good job finding cheerful and happy moments in such a sad story,” Finch said.

The mostly-male 10 member cast was also the largest Scurria had ever directed. The only female role was that of Curly’s wife (played by Laura Murden).

“There was a lot of testosterone in the room most of the time,” Scurria said. “But (Murden) did a great job of sitting in and not making a big deal out of it. She was blast to work with.”

Scurria said he and the cast were determined to not do one thing: They did not want to watch any of the movie adaptations of the book. Scurria said he did not want the cast to mimic someone else’s work, but to explore the characters on their own and relate them to their own experiences.

“Once the show is up and we close, we are going to have a party and watch the movie and see how close we came to what they’ve done,” Scurria said.

Scurria said he hopes audiences can identify with the play’s universal theme of finding true happiness, especially during these times of economic hardship. Scurria said they’re trying to make the point that happiness does not come only from possessions and money, but rather finding a personal connection with another person.

“That’s the thing that really makes it a tragic play,” Scurria said. “So many, if not all of these characters, are searching for that person and none of them are ever able to find it.”

“Of Mice and Men” will run at Shafer Street Playhouse’s Newdick Theatre Friday, May 1, Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 3 at 2 p.m. Admission is free.