Of Mice and Men

I went to a community college production of "Of Mice and Men" this afternoon. Damn, I forgot how sad a story that is. The students were cast perfectly for their roles. Lennie was BIG, Curly was a small man, and Slim was quite slender. Even forgetting the exact plot, you knew Lennie was going to do something really bad, which he did. Then his friend George handles the situation himself rather than having Curly take pleasure in it. I really teared up at the end. The sexism and politically incorrect treatment of the disabled didn't seem to interfere with the transmission of the timeless themes. If my brain were functioning better, and perhaps I had had an English class in the last 25 years, I would name those themes. The actors carried off their disabilities well and with dignity, and the accents were consistently applied. Bruce Springsteen tunes were used as house and transition music; I'm not that familiar with him but it was his haunting, lonely type stuff and fit the 1930's setting well.