“…the way they interact at times resembles a physically reversed Laurel and Hardy, with an oversized Stan causing chaos, as a frustrated, diminutive Ollie gives exasperated double-takes to the audience”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars (Nae Bad)

In a Fringe that, with every year, seems more dominated by stand-up comedy, it’s always a pleasure to see a recognisable title in the theatre listings. Steinbeck’s 1937 novella Of Mice and Men is an evergreen classic which in recent decades has become a familiar feature in the UK’s literary landscape due to its perennial suitability as an English Literature text for schools. It’s become all the more popular due to the influence of a number of star-studded film, TV, and stage adaptations over the years.

The economics of a Fringe production preclude the large ensemble cast that would be required for a full representation of the story, so writer Nigel Miles-Thomas has wisely and effectively adapted this production to focus on George and Lennie, the pair of itinerant workers striving to survive in Depression-era California. Whilst those who know the story well may miss seeing other characters such as Curley’s wife, Slim, or Candy, spotlighting the central duo offers a more intense take on their complex relationship.

Miles-Thomas also plays Lennie Small, the great, lumbering man-child who doesn’t know his own strength. Familiar to regular Fringe-goers in recent years as a cadaverous Sherlock Holmes, Miles-Thomas captures both the childlike innocence of Lennie, along with the dark undercurrent of uncontrolled physical strength that lurks beneath. George Milton, the wise-guy leader of the pair is entertainingly portrayed by Michael Roy Andrew, forever trying to temper his anger at Lennie’s incompetence with tenderly protective understanding. Indeed, as a two-hander, the show is able to highlight the funnier side of this tragicomedy: the way they interact at times resembles a physically reversed Laurel and Hardy, with an oversized Stan causing chaos, as a frustrated, diminutive Ollie gives exasperated double-takes to the audience. Such lighter moments make an engaging contrast to the inevitable tragic darkness of the end.

The show worked well in the Drawing Room auditorium at the Assembly Rooms on George Street; I suspect because the largely middle-aged audience knew the work well. Those less familiar with the story may perhaps struggle a little to follow some of the one-sided dialogues with unseen offstage characters – but this is nonetheless an engaging piece of theatre that is largely successful in bringing this classic to a Fringe stage.

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