Las Vegas director tackles ‘Of Mice and Men’ again

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2002 | 8:31 a.m.

Brewer, on the faculty of the Department of Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is directing the play for the second time in his career -- this time at UNLV's Judy Bayley Theatre.

The play is a joint production of the Nevada Conservatory Theatre and UNLV's University Theatre.

"Of Mice and Men" is being produced shortly before the 100th anniversary of Steinbeck's birth, on Feb. 27, 1902, in Salinas, Calif.

"This production is a little different from the other one I did," said Brewer, 55, who first staged the play at the Cincinnati Playhouse in 1977. "Because of my maturity, I appreciate it in a different way."

The story focuses on two Depression-era drifters -- George and the mentally retarded Lennie -- who decide to go to work at a ranch and save enough money to buy their own farm.

"I feel that 'Of Mice and Men' has taken on folktale status," Brewer said. "It's a poetic story, full of archetypes, in a way. It has an epic kind of style that is going to be part of what we are doing."

Brewer said Steinbeck's body of work is a testament to his concern about the "disenfranchised, the little man. That was the hallmark of his career. He had great empathy for the common man."

"Of Mice and Men" first was produced in 1937, the same year that the novel was published. The first film version was released in 1939. A remake of that film was made in 1992 by actor-director Gary Sinise.

Lon Chaney Jr. may be the actor most remembered to have played the role of Lennie in the 1939 film, which co-starred Burgess Meredith as George. John Malkovich played Lennie in the 1992 film, co-starring with Sinise as George.

Jeffrey Koep, dean of UNLV's College of Fine Arts, plays Lennie in the local production.

Although he is familiar with the two film versions of "Of Mice and Men," Koep says he decided not to watch them in preparing for his role.

"It's been several years since I have seen them," he said. "I tried to stay away from them so I could come up with what's there (and not other actors' interpretations)."

Koep says he has always appreciated the play. "It makes a universal message about racism, prejudice, all those things which in recent years have been put under the banner of the 'politically incorrect.' "

Koep described Steinbeck's story as "an eloquent statement about how we should treat each other, but don't. There's not a lot of forgiveness, a lot of people are not willing to accept people who are different."

Koep said the challenge to playing Lennie is not to take him to extremes. "You can take Lennie over the top," he said.

He described Lennie as a person with limited mental capacity who doesn't connect with the world around him.

"From a technical standpoint," Koep said, "that makes it difficult for an actor, not connecting with the other actors."

The character of George is being played by Erik Fredricksen, who worked with Brewer in Cincinnati and is a friend of Koep.

Fredricksen has been an actor and choreographer in many major regional theaters, including the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Indiana Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis and the Seattle Repertory Theatre.