Should the Birmingham REP stick to Steinbeck?
As a secondary school teacher of English and drama I was initially delighted to see a main stage production of Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of mice and men.’ Then I sat in the auditorium and boggled at the superfluous and erroneous additional dialogue attributed to Curley’s wife which sought to very clumsily tell, not show, how lonely she was at the ranch. If there was any doubt, she said she was lonely, not once, but twice. She never does, or needs to say this in the novella. She also claims to be running away from the ranch with her suitcase when she encounters Lenny in the grain store – she does no such thing in the novella - and so it goes on. Now, whoever wrote this stage adaptation (Director Roxana Silbert? It’s not clear) has a lot of editorial decisions to make, but for any eager school student studying the play as part of their GCSE English Literature studies they would encounter so many inaccuracies and misleading new additions of dialogue that eventually they could not help but form a very different opinion of Curley’s wife – which would be so very far from that which is actually presented by Steinbeck in the original novella.
What responsibility does the dramatic adapter and writer for the stage have to the original text ?
This raises a significant question: what responsibility does the dramatic adapter and writer for the stage have to render and represent the characters portrayed in the original novella on the stage? Let’s not forget this kind of production will and does attract substantial student ticket buyers which to my mind, at least, requires some kind of faith in the text. The acting was all fine and dandy, but the significant omissions and irrelevant and misleading additional dialogue made for a very uncomfortable viewing experience. Not least at the end when Slim joined George at the brush and asks if George would like a little time alone with George. Arrrrrgh! This simply does not happen in the novella. What does happen in the novella and never appears on stage is Slim’s re-assuring arrival after the tragic death of Lenny at the hands of his own best friend on the road. In the Saturday night performance I saw the company also threw away any dramatic, reflective time by bringing the lights up as soon as Lenny was shot then he also quickly popped up to take a bow within seconds of his tragic death. Oh dear. Do they not have any well informed teacher/advisers who teach books like ‘Of mice and men’ at the Rep and promote the need for emotional, dramatic and character accuracy, as it is clearly illustrated in the prize winning book?
Perhaps this doesn’t matter?
Perhaps I’m paying too much attention to this as an important matter. But hold on, the theatre certainly seems to want school groups to visit and also offers a pack for schools to read and consider. I made an enquiry about who wrote this misleading script, on the Reps ‘Of mice and men’ website page and it vanished overnight without an answer.
So, despite some other promotional puffs for this show on the Rep website (natural) it was a very disappointing experience when compared to the lean, taut and beautiful novella that Steinbeck wrote – which is a real shame when I think of the many other entertaining and dramatically moving pieces of theatre I have enjoyed at the Rep since it re-opened.
Any feedback from fellow teachers, members of NATE or readers of the novella who also saw the show would be most welcome.
Adrian Johnson, MSC
Teacher of English Literature and Drama in Birmingham
As a secondary school teacher of English and drama I was initially delighted to see a main stage production of Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of mice and men.’ Then I sat in the auditorium and boggled at the superfluous and erroneous additional dialogue attributed to Curley’s wife which sought to very clumsily tell, not show, how lonely she was at the ranch. If there was any doubt, she said she was lonely, not once, but twice. She never does, or needs to say this in the novella. She also claims to be running away from the ranch with her suitcase when she encounters Lenny in the grain store – she does no such thing in the novella - and so it goes on. Now, whoever wrote this stage adaptation (Director Roxana Silbert? It’s not clear) has a lot of editorial decisions to make, but for any eager school student studying the play as part of their GCSE English Literature studies they would encounter so many inaccuracies and misleading new additions of dialogue that eventually they could not help but form a very different opinion of Curley’s wife – which would be so very far from that which is actually presented by Steinbeck in the original novella.
What responsibility does the dramatic adapter and writer for the stage have to the original text ?
This raises a significant question: what responsibility does the dramatic adapter and writer for the stage have to render and represent the characters portrayed in the original novella on the stage? Let’s not forget this kind of production will and does attract substantial student ticket buyers which to my mind, at least, requires some kind of faith in the text. The acting was all fine and dandy, but the significant omissions and irrelevant and misleading additional dialogue made for a very uncomfortable viewing experience. Not least at the end when Slim joined George at the brush and asks if George would like a little time alone with George. Arrrrrgh! This simply does not happen in the novella. What does happen in the novella and never appears on stage is Slim’s re-assuring arrival after the tragic death of Lenny at the hands of his own best friend on the road. In the Saturday night performance I saw the company also threw away any dramatic, reflective time by bringing the lights up as soon as Lenny was shot then he also quickly popped up to take a bow within seconds of his tragic death. Oh dear. Do they not have any well informed teacher/advisers who teach books like ‘Of mice and men’ at the Rep and promote the need for emotional, dramatic and character accuracy, as it is clearly illustrated in the prize winning book?
Perhaps this doesn’t matter?
Perhaps I’m paying too much attention to this as an important matter. But hold on, the theatre certainly seems to want school groups to visit and also offers a pack for schools to read and consider. I made an enquiry about who wrote this misleading script, on the Reps ‘Of mice and men’ website page and it vanished overnight without an answer.
So, despite some other promotional puffs for this show on the Rep website (natural) it was a very disappointing experience when compared to the lean, taut and beautiful novella that Steinbeck wrote – which is a real shame when I think of the many other entertaining and dramatically moving pieces of theatre I have enjoyed at the Rep since it re-opened.
Any feedback from fellow teachers, members of NATE or readers of the novella who also saw the show would be most welcome.
Adrian Johnson, MSC
Teacher of English Literature and Drama in Birmingham