Hilberry Company members Edmund Alyn Jones and Carollette Phillips talk with Dave Wagner on WRCJ about their roles in Richard III, Of Mice and Men, and the upcoming production of The Misanthrope. Video editing by Richard L. Fosbrink.
Lawrence B. Johnson / Special to The Detroit News
“Steinbeck’s tragedy is played out in its full measure of virile poetics and spiritual bleakness by the young company at Hilberry Theatre, the graduate theater program at Wayne State University. Under the direction of Anthony B. Schmitt, the Hilberry ensemble turns in a performance worthy of the professional stage. It is not to be missed.”
Erman Jones, left, plays Lennie and Peter Prouty is George. Photo credit: Nikki Allen
“In a sense, George is Lennie’s tragic straight man. Lennie keeps trying to get it right, to do right, but just can’t. George rails at him but always gives him one more chance. That is the magnetism in Erman Jones’ obsessive, obedient but error-prone Lennie and Peter Prouty’s gruff, but compassionate and forgiving George.”
“Prouty’s clipped speech, terse and coarse, incisively evokes the flinty façade of a man who knows the coldness of the world and understands that dreams are achieved by dint of will. And still it is to Jones’ eager, anxious, faithful Lennie that we keep turning our hearts. This Lennie is a complicated simpleton, expressed with as much nuance as energy. Like the mice and puppies Lennie loves to hold and pet, we’re in Jones’ pocket to the end.”
“The supporting cast also boasts some fine performances, first among them Alan Ball’s as the weathered old-timer Candy, who latches onto the newcomers’ dream of hearth and freedom. (Candy’s dog is so well trained that you half expect it to speak lines.) As the isolated black farm hand Crooks, Edmund Alyn Jones is exquisite, turning an account of this capable man’s segregation into lyric poetry. Jordan Whalen, as the quiet-spoken and sympathetic mule-skinner Slim, speaks with a measured self-confidence that goes well with his tall, lean form. Vanessa Sawson, as the alluring young wife of the boss’s son, walks a provocative line between sultry and bereft.”
“And hat’s off to Peter Schmidt for an adaptable set design that flows from abstract to naturalistic and back at the toss of a few coverlets. The set gives this production a clear locus, and it is a hard, sad place.”
Lawrence B. Johnson is a cultural writer and critic.
lawrencebj@gmail.com
The original article in its entirety may be found here.
…
Of Mice and Men is more than half way through its public run, though there are still plenty of Morning Matinees to come through the beginning of March. The remainder of the performances are listed below:
This Saturday, December 11, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
January 6, 8 p.m.
January 13, 8 p.m.
February 4, 8 p.m.
February 5, 8 p.m.
February 8, 10 a.m.
Febraury 15, 10 a.m.
March 1, 10 a.m.
For tickets, call the box office at 313-577-2972, or purchase your tickets on-line at www.wsushows.com
Drama coach and director Tony Schmitt reviews notes with “Of Mice and Men” actor Edmund Alyn Jones. Photo credit: Nikki Allen
Lawrence B. Johnson / Special to The Detroit News
Acting, says the retired Wayne State University drama coach Tony Schmitt, is a team sport. Each new production in the school’s time-tested and highly successful Hilberry Theatre graduate program presents a fresh challenge to the company’s ever-changing ensemble mix.
“An opening night is a journey into the unknown, and each player knows how interdependent they all are,” says Schmitt, who retired from the Wayne State faculty in 2001 after 30 years of service but keeps his hand in the game as guest director.
Schmitt’s last two Hilberry projects pretty well define the range of classic theater that forms the training ground for this young troupe. From George Farquhar’s 18th century comedy “The Beaux’ Stratagem” last year, Schmitt has made a radical turn to John Steinbeck’s tragedy Of Mice and Men, now on the Hilberry stage.Of Mice and Men stretches the imaginations and empathies of actors still mastering their craft, says Schmitt. It’s the Depression-era story of two pals — clever visionary George and strong, simple Lennie, migrant ranch hands who follow the work even as they dream of having their own spread. But a chance incident brings that hope to a horrific turn.
“I told the actors at the beginning that I didn’t want this to look like acting,” says Schmitt. “The style needed to be in this world, inside the bunkhouse. We couldn’t have spouting going on or we’d lose the audience. We had to make it live.”
Or perhaps as Hamlet admonishes the itinerate players in the Bard’s play, “Do not saw the air.” But what insight can a director offer student actors who may approach such an intense drama with saws in hand.
“You need to be a real person going for a real thing,” says Schmitt. “The trap can be to play surfaces. You need to get under the surface, to the human being.”
If the characters in Steinbeck’s play are older than Hilberry’s post-graduate actors, that’s just one more way they stretch themselves, says Schmitt. It’s rare when these actors aren’t playing someone older, but it’s also typical that within a few minutes you forget about the discrepancy.
“It’s like non-traditional casting,” says Schmitt. “You may not expect an actor of color in a traditionally white role, but a good performance allows you to quickly adjust.”
While tragedy may test a young actor’s maturity, the director says, the demands of comedy — like The Beaux’ Stratagem or this season’s Noel Coward romp Hay Fever — require something special.
“You can’t kid yourself about comedy,” Schmitt says. “Either they laugh or they don’t. The basic thing is to be honest. When you step out of that and start ‘performing,’ the audience catches on right away and quits laughing.”
And that, for an actor of any age, is real tragedy.
Lawrence B. Johnson is a cultural writer and critic.
lawrencebj@gmail.com
The original article may be found here.
The remainder of Of Mice and Men performances are:
Saturday, December 11th at 2pm and 8pm
Thursday, January 6th at 8pm
Thursday, January 13th at 8pm
Friday, February 4th at 8pm
Saturday, February 5th at 8pm
Tickets are available at www.wsushows.com and by calling the box office at 313-577-2972
Posted by Times-Herald Newspapers on 10/30/10 • Categorized as Tempo
The original article may be found here.
The Hilberry Theatre presents John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men through Feb. 5 in rotating repertory. The story, set during the Depression, follows two migrant workers and their quest for the American dream. For tickets and more information, call the box office at (313) 577-2972 or go to http://www.hilberry.com.
Peter Prouty (left) plays George, and Erman Jones (right) plays Lennie. Photo credit: Nikki Allen
By Sue Suchyta
The Hilberry Theatre, Wayne State University’s graduate repertory company, continues its season with John Steinbeck’s classic tale Of Mice and Men.
The story of ordinary folks who dream of a place of their own during tough economic times mirror the challenges many face today. It also exposes the prejudices that drive so many human interactions without being overt or preachy.
The graduate company, both actors and technicians, offer a well-performed, deeply moving show with professional production values – one that audiences won’t want to miss.
Protagonists George and Lennie travel together during the Great Depression looking for seasonal work on farms and ranches. George is smart but suspicious and guarded. Lennie is mentally handicapped – he has a man’s strength but a young child’s perceptions, intellect and attention span. George tries to protect him from taunts and harm – both physical and psychological.
Steinbeck also covertly used the play to get audiences to examine the preconceived racism his characters face because of ingrained, institutionalized role expectations. A lonely young wife is summarily judged a dangerous flirt; a black ranch hand is automatically segregated; and a mentally challenged man instantly evokes fear and suspicion.
However, despite the characters’ preconceived notions about each other’s differences, they bring uniqueness to each role, and avoid the stereotypes that would be so easy to embrace. Instead of uneducated, quick-to-judge ranch hands we see fully developed characters worry about a fellow farmhand with a dying dog, one with a disability and others with fragile and unlikely dreams.
Peter Schmidt’s set design paired with Thomas Schraeder’s lighting design is visually stunning. They provide a rich tapestry of color and texture as the backdrop. The massive burlap drop is textured to resemble fields, hills and clouds when lit with a varying pallet of hues. The backdrop is fabric art awash in colored light, and like a work of art is best appreciated when seen.
Peter Prouty as George and Erman Jones as Lennie anchor the show. Prouty is the protector with a chip on his shoulder, while Jones plays the mentally challenged Lennie with a child’s mind but a man’s strength.
Jones fully incorporates the halting, childlike speech of a mentally challenged adult. Prouty shows his stress level through the repressed anger beneath the tight rein of control. Both actors deliver superb performances.
Jordan Whalen (Slim), Adam Maslak (Whit), Peter Prouty (George), Dave Toomey (Carlson), and Alan Ball (Candy) in the bunkhouse.
Alan Ball as Candy, the aging, handicapped ranch hand is also a strong component of the cast, as he eagerly embraces George and Lennie’s dream of a small farm.
Jordan Whalen as Slim brings a quiet power and confident authority to the role of Slim.
Vanessa Sawson, as Curley’s wife, makes it clear that she is a lonely young woman in an unfamiliar world, and not the simplistic flirt some interpretations make her out to be.
Edmund Alyn Jones as the segregated black farmhand rises above the character’s anger to give him an insightful sense of humor and a very human, likeable persona.
The dynamics of the entire company makes it easy to forget that the story unfolding on the stage is an intentionally moving fiction and not an actual human tragedy.
Of Mice and Men runs through Feb. 5 in rotating repertory. Tickets are $25 to $30 and available through the box office, at (313) 577-2972, or online at www.wsushows.com. The Hilberry is at 4743 Cass at Hancock on the WSU campus in Detroit.
Each show of our season is complimented with a video that plays in the lobby before the performance. Frequently these videos feature a welcome, interviews with directors, designers and actors, as well as additional information about the play and our sponsors. Here’s a look at the video that plays before performances of Of Mice and Men, currently running at the Hilberry.
Erman Jones as Lennie, Vanessa Sawson as Curley's Wife, Peter Prouty and George. Photo Credit: Nikki Allen
An American Classic graces Hilberry stage
By John Quinn
John Steinbeck’s cry for social justice, Of Mice and Men, is a staple of high school literature classes across the country. It was Steinbeck’s first attempt at writing a “novel-play,” a novella that was ready for translation to the stage. Although stripped of the soaring descriptive passages in the book, the play is a thing of beauty, yet remains a stark account of lonely souls fruitlessly chasing the American Dream. It deserved the “Audience Choice” slot in the Hilberry Theatre season, and the company has done well by its patrons.
Two migrant workers, George (Peter Prouty) and Lenny (Erman Jones), are new arrivals at a harvest in California farm country. George is big brother and nanny to the mentally challenged Lenny, a giant man-child but still a valuable worker. Unlike the usual migrant, they dream of making enough to buy a small farm and get off the road for good. The job, though, is a field of broken dreams and toxic emotions, an inevitably lethal combination to innocents like George and Lenny. Of Mice and Men is a testament of the killing hopelessness of the Great Depression.
While Prouty ably does the heavy lifting with fast-talking George’s massive dialogue, it is Erman Jones’ non-verbal communication that stands out. Anyone who knows the developmentally disabled will recognize the reality in Jones’s gestures, grimaces and tics – even the gentle, childlike voice is dead on.
While all the performances are strong and convincing, there’s a tendency to confuse intensity with speed. This prize-winning material deserves a careful reading; like a fine wine, it needs to be savored.
Scenic Design by Peter Schmidt, Lighting Design by Tom Schraeder. Photo Credit: Nikki Allen
There’s a special treat when a play’s design is greater than the sum of its parts. Scenic designer Peter Schmidt’s cloth sculpture backdrop paired with Thomas H. Schraeder’s lighting artfully shifts from the vivid colors of a California sunset to a darkening forest. The pair gives a wealth of atmosphere in a simple play of sunbeams through a windmill.
Director Anthony B. Schmitt, who retired from Wayne State University’s Department of Theatre in 2002, returns to give a well-rounded, sensitive reading to this most emotional of works. One cannot miss the parallels between the crushed dreams of the Great Depression and the crushed hopes of the Great Recession. While Steinbeck is timeless, Of Mice and Men is eerily current.
SHOW DETAILS:
Hilberry Theatre, 4743 Cass Ave., Detroit. Plays in rotating repertory through Feb. 5. Tickets: $25 – $30. For information: 313-577-2972 or www.wsushows.com.
Click here to comment on this review
Show times
Erman Jones as Lennie and Vanessa Sawson as Curley's Wife. Photo credit: Nikki Allen
‘Of Mice and Men’ at The Hilberry Theatre breathes new life into a classic.
John Steinbeck’s Nobel Prize winning novella about two migrant workers’ quest for the American Dream is one we have all grown up with. Of Mice and Men has been required reading in most high school English programs for decades on end. So, as we checked our personal Kleenex supply before walking into the Hilberry Theatre for play’s the opening night performance, it was hard to imagine that anyone there didn’t know how Of Mice and Men ends.
In fact, by the middle of Act One, we were already hearing sniffling a few rows back.
And yet …
As with any good tale, it’s all about the telling. The Hilberry cast, under the direction of Tony Schmitt, held the first-night audience spell bound with its understated but convincing representation of itinerant ranch workers in depression-era California. Peter Prouty (George) and Erman Jones (Lennie) breathe new life into these iconic American characters. And they are ably supported by strong ensemble performances, led by fellow third-year company members Alan Ball as Candy, Jason Cabral as Curley, and Jordan Whalen as Slim.
In pre-show remarks, Of Mice and Men Director Tony Schmitt admitted to a strong affinity for Steinbeck, but added that people all have different ideas as to ‘what the story is really about.’
Schmitt’s directorial vision focused on the themes of isolation, the horror of being alone, and the innate need to connect with other people. And indeed, this production helps us see the various barriers that serve to isolate the characters from each other – fear, pride, bigotry, jealousy – all the usual suspects. Even the minimalist set, with its burlap sky and canvas mountains, seem to underscore the futility of friendship in such an unforgiving environment.
Scenic Design by Peter Schmidt, Lighting Design by Tom Schaeder, Photo credit: Nikki Allen
Ironically, the filial camaraderie between George and Lennie seems to inspire more conversation and confidences from the rest of the characters. Sadly enough, this includes Curley’s ‘lonely’ wife. And so it is that ‘the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.’
If you haven’t read Of Mice and Men since high school, or if you’ve never seen it performed live, you owe it to yourself to catch this Hilberry production. You’ll discover many new gems that you missed as a student. If you are the parent of teenagers, make an extra effort to take them to this show.
And here’s a bonus: Of Mice and Men is being paired with the Bonstelle Theatre’s production of To Kill a Mockingbird – another ‘must-read’ book for most American school kids. Just contact the Hilberry box office and ask for ‘The American Literature Classics’ package to reserve tickets for both shows for modest price of one — $25.
The play runs in rotating repertory until February 5, 2011. For more information, or to reserve tickets online, call the Hilberry Theatre Box Office at 313-577-2972, online, or by visiting the box office at 4743 Cass Ave. on the corner of Cass Ave. and Hancock.
You can find the original article here.
Fred Florkowski, Associate Professor, Scenic Designer, and Bonstelle Technical Director is a graduate of WSU with a BS in Education and an MFA in Scenic Design. He has provided technical direction and scenic designs for over 80 productions in regional theatres. His work is frequently seen at Novi’s Second City, and is a co-founder of Motor City Youth Theatre. He also happens to be the scenic designer of the 1997 production of Of Mice and Men (directed by former WSU department of theatre chairman Blair Anderson).
Though the slides that were taken of the the production have been lost to time (a dozen years is like a half century in theatre archiving), some photographs were recently scanned into our digital archives (thanks to Kerianne Furgerson), which we can now share with you!
The current production of Of Mice and Men opens tonight, and the design this time round is just as stunning. Second-year scenic designer Peter Schmidt has created a simple, rustic set that is both functional and beautiful. Professor Thomas Schraeder‘s lighting design complements Schmidt’s work perfectly. Expect pictures of the current production soon… in the meantime, you’ll have to come to the theatre to see it for yourself!
The Hilberry Theatre 