Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Christian Darnell, Greg Vicary, Michael Cook, George Parsons, Katie Overbury, Liam Middleton, Jonny Campbell, Alex Webber-Date, Patrick D’Arcy, Devan Pankhania.

The number of people who do not know the story Of Mice and Men is becoming less each generation as schools adopt Steinbeck’s classic into their curriculum early on. Therefore, Liverpool University Drama Society (LUDS) decision to produce this as their first play of the academic year was, if nothing else, a signal of intent from a society that, at amateur level, is building a reputation of producing captivating and quality theatre.

Under the stewardship of director Mark Raynor and Mary Cooper, this reputation was left secured. The level of detail in the acting highlighted a keen eye from the directors and the emotional core from the actors which was threaded through the heart of the production!

This emotional core was very evident in the two leads, Greg Vicary as the run down, acquiescent George Milton, and Christian Darnell’s as the iconic, childlike Lennie Small. Within moments of walking on stage, both characters were fully engaging, their mutual affection and friendship made clear. Played off amongst a cast of more wearied ranch hands with darker dispositions, Darnell’s wonderfully innocent portrayal of Lennie brought warm laughter from the audience, and a natural predisposition to care about his story, and that of Vicary’s George, who played the straight actor for Darnell to bounce off, but himself showed a wistful dream of one day escaping from the dead-end life

Framing the captivating story of Lennie and George, the authoritative, mellifluous voice of the excellent Michael Cook, playing Slim, and the soft, emotional old soul of Candy, played so beautifully by George Parsons, created a warm heart at the core of a play steeped in cruelty and sadness. The tragic monologue shared by the much-maligned wife of Curly, played so sweetly by Katie Overbury, against an oblivious Lennie, showed the world how it is, and how simple sometimes everybody wishes it could be.

Ultimately, it was the detail of the performances on stage; guided by directors who were able to bring out the natural beauty of the play that made Of Mice and Men a show LUDS and all involved can be pleased with!

Danny Partington