‘Of Mice and Men’ a well-made downer

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company is one of the most highly regarded summer theaters in Vermont. After seeing the company’s production of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” Sunday at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono, there was no question about why.

This is a solidly talented and disciplined group of actors under the intelligent guidance of director Malcolm Ewen. The traveling show, which recently finished a run in Vermont, brought remarkable drama to this deeply American story about Lennie Small, the simple-minded giant, and George Milton, his frustrated but big-hearted caretaker.

In this foreboding tale of friendship, the two men are propelled by a dream to break out of migrant work and buy a rabbit farm – a story Lennie, wide-eyed as a child, loves to hear George repeat as a bedtime comfort.

The dream never has a chance of coming true, however, because Lennie doesn’t know his own strength and, before the three days of the story are done, Lennie has accidentally and innocently crushed the head of a mouse, crumbled the fist of an adversary, killed his own beloved puppy, and broken the neck of his boss’s new wife.

In the end, when the other ranch hands disperse to hunt down and kill Lennie, George hurriedly tells the rabbit farm story one more time, then shoots Lennie in the head.

Frankly, I have no complaints about this production except that maybe that the sound of cowboy boots against wooden floors made it hard to hear every line. Howard Jones’ sets combined with Stuart Duke’s sepia lighting and Martha Hally’s bunkhouse costumes re-created the dusty, dry ranch life in Steinbeck’s California in the 1930s. The production highlighted the considerable talents of David Bonanno as George, and Robert Jensen as Lennie – but this show was evenly cast for talent and expertise, including the guitar players and singers who performed during set changes.

And because it was presented in conjunction with Community Health and Counseling Services, the cause itself was laudable.

But at the best of times, this wrenchingly symbolic story about mercy and power is a downer. While these fine actors took every chance to create a chuckle or a tender moment – which they did gracefully – “Of Mice and Men” is even more of a downer these days.