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New Rep’s CLASSIC REPERTORY COMPANY is produced in cooperation with
a d m i n i s t r a t i v e o ff i c e
200 dexter avenue
watertown, ma 02472
artistic director jim petosa managing director harriet sheets
the professional theatre company
in residence at the
arsenal center for the arts
Contents
2 John Steinbeck Biography
3 Of Mice and Men Synopsis
4 Great Depression Overview
4 The Lingo of Of Mice and Men
5 The Dust Bowl and Migrant Workers
5 Women and the Great Depression:
The Case of Curley’s Wife
6 To A Mouse... by Robert Burns
7 Cast and Crew
9Bibliography
10 Pre-Show and Post-Show Questions
‘‘
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John Steinbeck Biography
John Steinbeck was born
on February 27, 1902, the third
child of four and the only boy. His
mother, Olive, was a strict former
schoolteacher, and his father, John,
was an emotionally detached mill
manager. As a child, Steinbeck
loved classic adventure tales like
Robin Hood and King Arthur, and
themes from these tales would find
their way into his works. Salinas and
Pacific Grove, California, where he
grew up, would provide not only
a life-long refuge for him, but also
the setting for many of his works. As
a young man, Steinbeck worked on
various ranches in the area, which
introduced him to the common men
and laborers who would become
his stories’ heroes.
Steinbeck knew from an early
age that he wanted to be a writer, and
after six on-and-off years studying
at Stanford, he began to work as a
writer full-time. His first book, Cup
of Gold, was published in 1929.
Because his first few books were
relatively unnoticed, he supported
himself with a variety of odd jobs
and a monthly allowance from his
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
JOHN Steinbeck. PHOTO by sonya Noskowiak
father. With the publications of the
novels Tortilla Flat and In Dubious
Battle in 1936, and Of Mice and
Men in 1937, Steinbeck began
to earn recognition and acclaim.
Shortly after, he was asked to write
a series of newspaper articles about
the migrant workers in California.
What he learned while researching
shocked him and provided the
inspiration for his best-known work,
The Grapes of Wrath, which won
the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Steinbeck
wrote
consistently
throughout his life; some of his
other well-known works include The
Red Pony (1933), The Pearl (1947),
and East of Eden (1952). In 1962,
Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize
for Literature.
Steinbeck excelled in other
forms of writing as well. His interest
in the theatrical form piqued while
working on a stage adaptation of
Of Mice and Men. Then Steinbeck
went on to collaborate on more
plays adapted from novels, several
screenplays, and one musical. He
also wrote a substantial amount of
non-fiction for various newspapers
and magazines, even doing
war reporting during WWII and
Vietnam. An avid traveler, Steinbeck
chronicled his journeys in works
such as the poorly received The
Log from the Sea of Cortez (1951)
and the more popular Travels with
Charley (1962).
Steinbeck was married three
times and had two children, Thom
and John Jr., with his second wife.
After a lengthy period of declining
health, he died on December 20,
1968 with his wife Elaine at his side.
His ashes were interred in the family
plot in Salinas, California.
2
Two migrant workers, George and
Lennie, have been let off a bus miles
away from the California farm where they
are due to start work. George is a small,
dark man with “sharp, strong features.”
Lennie, his companion, is his opposite, a
giant of a man with a “shapeless” face.
Overcome with thirst, the two stop in a
clearing by a pool and decide to camp
for the night. As the two converse, it
becomes clear that Lennie has a mild
mental disability. He is deeply devoted
to George and dependent upon him for
protection and guidance. George finds
that Lennie, who loves petting soft things
but is unaware of his strength, has been
carrying and stroking a dead mouse.
George angrily throws it away, fearing
that Lennie might catch a disease from
the dead animal. George complains
loudly that his life would be easier
without having to care for Lennie, but
the reader senses that their friendship
and devotion is mutual. He and Lennie
share a dream of buying their own piece
of land, farming it, and, much to Lennie’s
delight, keeping rabbits. George ends
the night by treating Lennie to the story
he often tells him about what life will be
like in such an idyllic place.
The next day, the men report to the
nearby ranch. George, fearing how the
boss will react to Lennie, insists that he’ll
do all the talking. He lies, explaining that
they travel together because they are
cousins and that a horse kicked Lennie
in the head when he was a child. They
are hired. They meet Candy, an old
“swamper,” or handyman, with a missing
hand and an ancient dog, and Curley, the
boss’s mean-spirited son. Curley is newly
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
married, possessive of his flirtatious
wife, and full of jealous suspicion. Once
George and Lennie are alone in the
bunkhouse, Curley’s wife appears and
flirts with them. Lennie thinks she is
“purty,” but George, sensing the trouble
that could come from tangling with this
woman and her husband, warns Lennie
to stay away from her. Soon, the ranchhands return from the fields for lunch, and
George and Lennie meet Slim, the skilled
mule driver who wields great authority on
the ranch. Slim comments on the rarity of
friendship like that between George and
Lennie. Carlson, another ranch-hand,
suggests that since Slim’s dog has just
given birth, they should offer a puppy to
Candy and shoot Candy’s old, good-fornothing dog.
The next day, George confides in Slim
that he and Lennie are not cousins, but
have been friends since childhood. He tells
how Lennie has often gotten them into
trouble. For instance, they were forced to
flee their last job because Lennie tried to
touch a woman’s dress and was accused
of rape. Slim agrees to give Lennie one
of his puppies, and Carlson continues to
badger Candy to kill his old dog. When
Slim agrees with Carlson, saying that
death would be a welcome relief to the
suffering animal, Candy gives in. Carlson,
before leading the dog outside, promises
to do the job painlessly.
Slim goes to the barn to do some
work, and Curley, who is maniacally
searching for his wife, heads to the
barn to accost Slim. Candy overhears
George and Lennie discussing their
plans to buy land, and offers his life’s
savings if they will let him live there too.
The three make a pact to let no one
else know of their plan. Slim returns
to the bunkhouse, berating Curley for
‘
‘
Synopsis
his suspicions. Curley, searching for an
easy target for his anger, finds Lennie
and picks a fight with him. Lennie
crushes Curley’s hand in the altercation.
Slim warns Curley that if he tries to get
George and Lennie fired, he will be the
laughingstock of the farm.
The next night, most of the men go
to the local brothel. Lennie is left with
Crooks, the lonely, black stable-hand,
and Candy. Curley’s wife flirts with
them, refusing to leave until the other
men come home. She notices the cuts
on Lennie’s face and suspects that he,
and not a piece of machinery as Curley
claimed, is responsible for hurting her
husband. This thought amuses her. The
next day, Lennie accidentally kills his
puppy in the barn. Curley’s wife enters
and consoles him. She admits that life
with Curley is a disappointment, and
wishes that she had followed her dream
of becoming a movie star. Lennie tells
her that he loves petting soft things,
and she offers to let him feel her hair.
When he grabs too tightly, she cries
out. In his attempt to silence her, he
accidentally breaks her neck.
Lennie flees back to a pool of
the Salinas River that George had
designated as a meeting place should
either of them get into trouble. As the
men back at the ranch discover what
has happened and gather together a
lynch party, George joins Lennie. Much
to Lennie’s surprise, George is not mad
at him for doing “a bad thing.” George
begins to tell Lennie the story of the farm
they will have together. As he describes
the rabbits that Lennie will tend, the
sound of the approaching lynch party
grows louder. George shoots his friend
in the back of the head.
When the other men arrive, George
lets them believe that Lennie had the
gun, and George wrestled it away
from him and shot him. Only Slim
understands what has really happened,
that George has killed his friend out
of mercy. Slim consolingly leads him
away, and the other men, completely
puzzled, watch them leave.
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3
Great Depression Overview
that did not exist—to buy and trade.
This system could not last. Eventually the
stock market crashed, and the country’s
economy with it. Unfortunately, the Wall
Street crash led the government to put
in place trade tariffs (international taxes)
that slowed the internal and international
economy even more.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt
became president in 1932, he brought a
“New Deal” to the American people, a
series of domestic programs focused on
relief, recovery, and reform. Roosevelt
believed it was the government’s duty to
help its people. He quickly put policies
in place to stabilize banks, give relief to
those in need, and assist labor unions,
minorities, farmers, and intellectuals.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt worked
specifically for black rights. Programs
like the Civil Conservation Corps and
the Works Progress Administration
put people back to work by funding
public works projects. The Agricultural
Adjustment Act helped farmers avoid
bankruptcy, and the Home Owners’
The Lingo of Of Mice and Men
Bindle: A bundle, usually of bedding and other possessions.
“I got three cans of beans in my bindle”
Bindle stiff: One who carries his possessions in a bundle, a hobo.
“Callin’ us bindle stiffs. You got floozy idears what us guys
amounts to.”
Booby hatch: An institution for the mentally ill.
“They’ll take you to the booby hatch.”
Bucking bags: Throwing heavy burlap bags of grain into a
truck or wagon.
“I seen thrashing machines on the way down; that means
we’ll be buckin’ grain bags.”
“Pea harvest. Large-scale industrialized
agriculture on Sinclair Ranch. Imperial Valley,
California.” PHOTO BY DOROTHEA LANGE.
Loan Corporation avoided foreclosure.
Though the Depression did not truly
subside until the 1940s, Roosevelt’s
programs met basic needs and helped
repair its damage. His intervention
brought Americans to accept and
expect such government aid, after a
decade of scrimping and saving.
‘
Of Mice and Men is set during the
1930s, a challenging time in the history of
the United States. The decade marked a
period of severe economic depression—
unemployment, business failure, and
general poverty—that spread across the
country. At one of the worst points, 19321933, roughly one third of the labor force
was unemployed. For minorities, jobs
disappeared even faster; 50% of African
Americans were unemployed in 1930.
The Gross National Product declined
from $103.8 billion in 1929, to $55.8 billion
in 1933. This was one of the few times in
history that the birthrate dropped below
the replacement rate, meaning more
people were dying than being born.
A common belief is that the Wall Street
stock market crash of 1929 created the
Great Depression. However, a more
accurate statement is that the crash
triggered what was already coming. In
the “Roaring” Twenties, much of the
country’s wealth had become unevenly
distributed.
Additionally,
people
increasingly used credit—“easy money”
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Lulu: Any remarkable or outstanding person or thing.
“Well, ain’t she a lulu?”
Pants rabbits/Pillow-pigeons: Lice.
“What the hell kinda beds you givin’ us anyway? We don’t
want no pants rabbits.”
Poke: A wallet or purse; in this case, figurative for “stored away.”
“If we can get just a few dollars in the poke we’ll shove off.”
Tart: A promiscuous or flirtatious woman.
“I think Curley’s married himself a tart.”
Buckshot: Scattershot, as from a gun, here used figuratively.
Skinner: A mule driver.
“These tarts is jus’ buckshot to a guy.”
“You a jerk-line skinner?” “I can snap ‘em around a little.”
Euchre: A type of card game.
Slough: To get rid of; in this case, to fire.
“Anybody like to play a little euchre?”
“Don’t tell Curley I said none of this. He’d slough me!”
Giving the eye: To look at another person with obvious
Stable buck: The man responsible for taking care of the horses.
admiration; to ogle, to flirt.
“He give the stable buck hell too.”
“Well, I seen her give Slim the eye.”
Handy: Skillful with the hands, dexterous, wieldy; in this
case, skilled in a fight.
“Curley’s pretty handy. He done quite a bit in the ring.”
Stake: Money savings.
“I wanted we should get a little stake together. Maybe a
hundred dollars.”
Jack: Money.
“We don’t have to sit in no barroom blowin’ in our jack, just
because we got no place else to go.”
Swamper: Here, a general handyman and person
responsible for cleaning out the barn or bunkhouse.
“I jest now finished swamping out the washhouse”
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
4
The Dust Bowl and Migrant Workers
In the 1930s, California filled with
out-of-state migrant workers hoping to
find a better life in its bountiful lands
and vibrant cities. John Steinbeck used
migrant laborers as recurring subjects,
the Joad family of his Grapes of Wrath
becoming a symbol of the migration.
Between 350,000 and 400,000 people
came into California during the Great
Depression years. The San Joaquin
Valley doubled its population.
Many of the incoming families were
fleeing a natural disaster that had
enduring effects on its refugees. The
Dust Bowl devastated the Great Plains—
particularly Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas,
and Missouri—with lasting drought and
thick dust storms. It left land useless
and farming families destitute. Farmers
in the 1920s had overused the land with
destructive techniques that dehydrated
the soil. Once the winds came, the soil
blew away.
Dust Bowl refugees and other
hopefuls looking for relief came to
California largely because of its growing
agriculture industry. Unlike the rest of
the country, California had managed
to diversify its economy and irrigate its
land, putting it in a better position to
handle the Great Depression. Migrants
came to work as crop-pickers, or “fruittramps.” They moved from crop to
crop, tending and picking what was in
season. Unable to collect possessions,
they came to be known as “bindlestiffs,”
those who carry what they have in a
bundle. The Dust Bowl refugees were
derogatively named “Okies” and
“Arkies,” referencing their main homestates, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Life for migrants could be difficult.
Entire families worked in the fields,
earning just enough to feed themselves.
About two thirds of families earned less
than livable income. When they could not
afford rent, they sometimes set up camps
outside towns, called “Little Oklahomas”
or “Hoovervilles,” which were dirty and
shabby. Californians became angry at
incoming migrants for filling their state
without money or apparent purpose,
and at times police turned people away
at the border. Yet many of the migrants
“Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother
of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo,
California.” PHOTO BY DOROTHEA LANGE.
remained and found a better standard
of living in California than where they
had come from. Remnants of Okie and
Arkie culture can still be seen in parts of
California.
Women and the Great Depression: The Case of Curley’s Wife
Feminist ideals that had flourished at
the beginning of the twentieth century
lost momentum in the 1930s. Hard times
reinforced traditional family roles, which
assumed a male wage earner and a female
homemaker. Women were discouraged from
pursuing careers so as to not deprive men
of work. If they worked outside the home,
they typically held female-identified service
jobs such as secretaries, teachers, nurses,
telephone operators, or housekeepers.
During the Great Depression, a significant
number of employers lowered women’s pay.
Many New Deal programs offered women
only domestic work.
Persistent female stereotypes often
positioned women at extremes, as
either saintly or evil. The saintly woman
was pure, submissive, maternal. The evil
woman was a temptress: vain, wicked,
provocative. Through the eyes of the
male characters in Of Mice and Men,
Curley’s wife falls into the latter category.
The men see her as a dangerous
seductress. Early critiques of the novel
suggest that Steinbeck portrays Curley’s
wife as an Eve figure responsible for
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
the exile from paradise. One critic goes
so far as to say Steinbeck projects his
own hostility toward women on Curley’s
wife and makes her sympathetic only in
death. For another critic, not even her
death evokes sympathy.
Recent feminist critiques paint a more
complex portrait of Curley’s wife and of
Steinbeck’s attitude toward her. They point
to her isolation and loneliness, her desperate
attempts to make human contact, and
her own thwarted dreams. Limited by her
position in relation to the men, she remains
an object in life and an innocent in death.
At the suggestion of the play’s
Broadway director, George S. Kaufman,
an accomplished playwright in his own
right, Steinbeck expanded the role of
Curley’s wife when he adapted the novel
for stage. In Kaufman’s words, “The girl, I
think, should be drawn more fully: she is
the motivating force of the whole thing
and should loom larger.” Additional
speeches and actions in the play serve
to make Curley’s wife more sympathetic
(her unfortunate childhood) and more
assertive (her plan to escape).
Even with these changes, the character
of Curley’s wife continues to confound.
Some critics claim the play’s revisions
humanize the character. Others find
them overly sentimental or unnecessary.
Halfway through the original run of the
play, actress Claire Luce expressed doubt
about her theatrical interpretation of
Curley’s wife. In his 1938 letter to Luce,
Steinbeck reveals details about the
character that had informed his creation
of her. In his mind, Curley’s wife is “not
a floozy.” Raised in “an atmosphere of
fighting and suspicion,” she “learned
to be hard to cover her fright.” The only
way to be noticed, she believes, is to
appear “sexually desirable.” Ultimately,
Steinbeck acknowledges that Curley’s
wife is “a devil of a hard part”:
“[I]f you knew her, if you could ever
break down a thousand little defenses
she has built up, you would find a nice
person, an honest person, and you
would end up by loving her. But such a
thing could never happen.”
5
To A Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest
with the Plough, November 1785.
By Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Steinbeck titled Of Mice and Men after the lines in the second to last verse of one of
Robert Burns’ poems: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, Gang aft a-gley,” which
are usually translated from the Scottish dialect as, “the best laid schemes of mice and
men, often go awry.” It too gives the message that sometimes plans go wrong.
The best-known portrait of Burns,
by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787
BURNS’ ORIGINAL
STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Wee, sleekit, cowran, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!
Small, crafty, cowering, timorous little beast,
O, what a panic is in your little breast!
You need not start away so hasty
With argumentative chatter!
I would be loath to run and chase you,
With murdering plough-staff.
I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion
Has broken Nature’s social union,
An’ justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An’ fellow-mortal!
I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
And justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth born companion
And fellow mortal!
I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave ‘S a sma’ request:
I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave,
An’ never miss’t!
I doubt not, sometimes, but you may steal;
What then? Poor little beast, you must live!
An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves
Is a small request;
I will get a blessing with what is left,
And never miss it.
Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It’s silly wa’s the win’s are strewin!
An’ naething, now, to big a new ane,
O’ foggage green!
An’ bleak December’s winds ensuin,
Baith snell an’ keen!
Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ wast,
An’ weary Winter comin fast,
An’ cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro’ thy cell.
That wee-bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble,
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou’s turn’d out, for a’ thy trouble,
But house or hald.
To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble,
An’ cranreuch cauld!
But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
Your small house, too, in ruin!
Its feeble walls the winds are scattering!
And nothing now, to build a new one,
Of coarse grass green!
And bleak December's winds coming,
Both bitter and keen!
You saw the fields laid bare and wasted,
And weary winter coming fast,
And cozy here, beneath the blast,
You thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel plough passed
Out through your cell.
That small bit heap of leaves and stubble,
Has cost you many a weary nibble!
Now you are turned out, for all your trouble,
Without house or holding,
To endure the winter's sleety dribble,
And hoar-frost cold.
But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!
Still you are blest, compared with me!
The present only touches you:
But oh! I backward cast my eye,
On prospects dreary!
And forward, though I cannot see,
I guess and fear!
6
classic repertory company
JOHN STEINBECK’s
OF MICE AND MEN
directed by
CLAY HOPPER
scenic designer
costume designer
ALEXANDER GROVER
ELONNA BETTINI
assistant director
ELEANOR RICHARDS
cast
( in alphabetical order )
DANIEL ANDERSON Curley, Carlson
MIGUEL FANA Crooks
WILL MADDEN Candy
WYNDHAM MAXWELL Lenny
CESAR MUÑOZ George
HAYLEY SHERWOOD Curley’s Wife
KRISTIAN SORENSEN Slim
DAN ANDERSON (Curley, Carlson)
makes his New
Repertory Theatre
debut. Recent credits
include Speak About It,
a performance based
presentation about
consent and sexual assault prevention;
Much Ado About Nothing (The Bay
Colony Shakespeare Company); and
The Love of the Nightingale (Emerson
Stage). Dan received his BFA in Acting
from Emerson College. Originally from
New Jersey, he resides in Dorchester.
MIGUEL FANA (Crooks) makes his
New Repertory Theatre
debut. Recent work
includes the Tempest
Trials Shakespeare
competition, Twelfth
Night, Ted 2, and the
Woody Allen Summer Project. He
is a recent Music and Performing
Arts graduate from University of
Massachusetts Boston, where he received
the Departmental Distinction Award
in Performing Arts. He is a member of
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
SAG-AFTRA. Originally from Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic, he
resides in Lynn.
WILL MADDEN (Candy) returns
to New Rep’s Classic
Repertory Company
after performing in the
summer 2014 tour of
A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. Recent credits
include Dunsinane, A Doll House, and
A Lie of the Mind (Boston University).
Film work includes Confusion Through
Sand, (notes) On Biology, and Euphonia
(ornana films). Will earned a BFA in
Acting from Boston University, and
studied at the London Academy of
Music and Dramatic Arts, where he
played Brutus in Julius Caesar. Originally
from Peachtree City, GA, Will currently
resides in Somerville.
WYNDHAM MAXWELL (Lenny)
makes his New Repertory
Theatre debut. In
Worcester, he most
recently performed in
......like sisters (Clark
University). Film
credits include Collie Rottweiler and the
Hangaround Kid (Vermont Center for
Digital Arts). Wyndham earned his BA in
Theater Arts at Clark University. Originally
from Vermont, he resides in Brighton.
CESAR MUÑOZ (George) makes
his New Repertory
Theatre debut. Recent
area credits include
Talk to at Me (Sleeping
Weazel), The Listener,
Lizzie Bright and the
Buckminster Boy, and The Winter’s Tale
(Emerson Stage). Film credits include
industrial work in the Boston area,
along with involvement in a statewide
campaign for Mississippi Mental
Health Association. Cesar earned a
BFA in Acting from Emerson College.
Cesar is originally from Mississippi.
7
HAYLEY SHERWOOD (Curley’s Wife)
makes her New
Repertory Theatre
debut. Recent area
credits include Macbeth,
A Delicate Balance,
and Romeo and Juliet
(Boston University); and and now I
only dance at weddings (Williamstown
Theatre Festival). Hayley earned her
BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston
University and has studied with
the London Academy of Music and
Dramatic Arts and Upright Citizen’s
Brigade. Originally from San Diego,
she resides in Somerville. KRISTIAN SORENSEN (Slim)
returns to New Rep’s
Classic Repertory
Company after
performing in the
summer 2014 tour of
A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. Other Boston area credits
include the DJ in The Donkey Show
(American Repertory Theatre).
University credits: Prep in Columbinus,
Shogun’s Mother/Abe in Pacific
Overtures, and Ned Weeks in The
Normal Heart. Kristian earned his BFA
in acting from Boston University’s
School of Theatre. He also spent a
semester studying physical acting at
L’Accademia Dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy.
Originally from Santa Barbara, he
resides in Somerville. CLAY HOPPER (Director) returns to
New Repertory Theatre after directing
Classic Repertory Company’s Great
Expectations, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and To Kill
A Mockingbird. In Washington D.C.,
he served as the Associate Artistic
Director of Olney Theatre Center and
Director of both the National Players
and the Summer Shakespeare Festival.
He now serves as lecturer in Directing
and Theatre Arts at Boston University’s
School of Theatre. Directing credits
include Two Gentlemen of Verona,
Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Othello,
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado
About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Amadeus,
Farragut North, Triumph of Love,
and Call of the Wild (Olney Theatre).
Other recent credits include On the
Verge or The Geography of Yearning
(Contemporary America Theatre
Festival Actor’s Lab). Off-off-Broadway
credits include A Home Without
and Different Zen (Third Eye Rep);
Earthworms (The Working Group);
and Triage and The Interrogation (The
Miranda Theatre).
ALEXANDER GROVER (Scenic
Designer) returns to New Repertory
Theatre after working on Closer
Than Ever and Amadeus. Other area
credits include You for Me for You
(Company One); Owen Wingrave
(Boston University Opera Institute);
and The Effect of Gamma Rays on
Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (Boston
Center for American Performance).
New York credits include Props
Coordinator on Sweeney Todd (New
York Philharmonic); and Bikeman
(Off-Broadway). Alexander earned
his BFA from Boston University.
Originally from Boston, he resides in
Danvers and is Props Coordinator for
New Rep’s 2014-2015 Season.
ELEANOR RICHARDS (Assistant
Director) makes her New Repertory
Theatre debut. Boston University credits
include Misalliance (Assistant Stage
Manager), Florencia en el Amazonas
(Technical Director), Our Girl in
Trenton (Assistant Lighting Designer),
Great Expectations (Stage Manager),
Blood Knot (Assistant Technical
Director), and Anne Boleyn (Technical
Director). Recently, she served as
Assistant Technical Director for Maine
State Music Theatre’s 2013 season,
including Dreamgirls, Les Miserables,
Gypsy, and Mary Poppins. Originally
from Michigan, she is a senior at
Boston University and will be acting
as Technical Director for the Opera
Institute’s Angels in America this winter.
ELONNA BETTINI (Costume Designer)
makes her New Repertory Theatre
debut. She is currently a senior
at Boston University where she is
studying Costume Design. She worked
as wardrobe and a first hand for Twelfth
Night (Commonwealth Shakespeare
Company) and designed Much Ado
About Nothing (Commonwealth
Shakespeare Company Apprentice
Program). Last spring she worked
as an Assistant Designer on Boston’s
University’s production of columbinus.
She has also worked with The Public
Theater and New York Theatre
Workshop in New York City.
8
Bibliography
Burns, Robert. “To a Mouse.” Academy of American Poets. Web. 10 July 2014.
Cerce, Danica. “The Function of Female Characters in Steinbeck’s Fiction: The Portrait of Curley’s Wife in Of
Mice and Men.” Acta Neophilologica 33.2. 2000: 85-91.
Crossen, Cynthia. “Americans Who Fled Drought in the 1930s found Little Sympathy.” Wall Street Journal,
Eastern edition September 07 2005. ProQuest. Web. 10 July 2014.
French, Warren G. “The First Theatrical Production of Steinbeck’s of Mice and Men.” American Literature,
Vol. 36, No. 4 (January, 1965), pp. 525-527.
“Great Depression.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2013): 1. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 10 July 2014.
Gregory, James N. “Dust Bowl Legacies: The Okie Impact on California, 1939-1989.” California History. 68.3
(1989): 74-85. Jstor.org. Web. 10 July 2014.
Hadella, Charlotte Cook. “The Dialogic Tension in Steinbeck’s Portrait of Curley’s Wife.” John Steinbeck:
The Years of Greatness, 1936-1939. Ed. Tetsumaro Hayashi. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 1993. 64-74.
Henahan, Donal. “Opera: ‘Mice and Men’.” New York Times. Oct 14 1983. Web. 10 July 2014.
“John Steinbeck Glossary.” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Web. 10 July 2014.
“Legacy.” The Dust Bowl. WGBH. Web. 10 July 2014.
Marsh, Fred T. “John Steinbeck’s Tale of Drifting Men.” New York Times (1923-Current file): 97. February 28
1937. ProQuest. Web. 26 June 2014 . ProQuest document link.
Nugent, Frank S. “THE SCREEN: Hal Roach Presents a Splendid Film Version of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice
and Men’ at the Roxy.” New York Times. (1923-Current file): 9. February 17 1940. ProQuest. Web. 10 July
2014.
“Of Mice and Men.” Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/find?q=of+mice+and+men&s=all
“Of Mice and Men.” Internet Broadway Database. http://www.ibdb.com/show.php?id=6661
Parini, Jay. John Steinbeck: A biography. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.
Spilka, Mark. “Of George and Lennie and Curley’s Wife: Sweet Violence in Steinbeck’s Eden.” Modern
Fiction Studies 20. 1979: 169-79.
Starr, Kevin. California: A History. Modern Library, 2005. Googlebooks. Web. 10 July 2014.
Teisch, Jessica B. “From The Dust Bowl To California: The Beautiful Fraud.” Midwest Quarterly 39.2 (1998):
153-172. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 July 2014.
“The Great Depression.” American Experience. PBS 2013. Web. July 10 2014.
“The New Deal.” American Experience. PBS 2013. Web. July 10 2014.
Thompson, Ralph. “BOOKS OF THE TIMES.” New York Times (1923-Current file): 15. Feb 27 1937.
ProQuest. Web. 26 June 2014 . ProQuest document link.
Williams, Brian. The Story Behind John Steinbeck’s’ Of Mice and Men’.” Heinemann-Raintree Library 2006.
Googlebooks. Web. 10 July 2014.
Wilson, Andrew B. “5 Myths Of The Great Depression.” Institute Of Public Affairs Review 61.1 (2009): 36-38.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 July 2014.
“Women, Impact of the Great Depression on.” Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Vol. 2. Ed. Robert S.
McElviane. NY: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 1050-55.
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
9
s
Question
Pre-Show Questions
Post-Show Questions
1) Many people believe you can tell a lot about a play
and its characters from its opening line. The opening
lines in Of Mice and Men are “Lennie, for God’s
sake, don’t drink so much. Lennie, you hear me! You
gonna be sick like you was last night.” From reading
these lines, what can you determine about George
and Lennie’s relationship?
6) How did the design elements used in the production
(set, costumes, sound) clarify or add to the meaning of
the production?
Common Core State Standards Initiative 8.3
Meeting the Standards: Reading & Lit 8
2) Pretend you are the set designer for Of Mice and
Men. How would you set up your space? Would you
have an elaborate set and lighting design depicting
the Salinas River, the ranch, etc., or would you have
a minimalist set that allows the audience to focus
primarily on the characters and their interactions
within the play? Why might this be a tough decision
for a designer to make?
Meeting the Standards: Reading & Lit 17.7, 18.6
7) In both our production and the original novel, Curley’s
Wife does not have a name. Think about why Steinbeck
made this choice. Who is she to Curley, to George, to
Lennie, or to the other men? What kind of character
is she? What purpose do you think she serves in
the story? Do you find her to be a sympathetic or
unsympathetic character?
Common Core State Standards Initiative 7.6, 7.9
8) Research or reflect on what you know about the African
American experience in the early 20th century. How
does Crooks’ experience relate to Lennie’s? Who else
in the story might have a similar experience?
Meeting the Standards: Reading & Lit 17.7, 18.6
Common Core State Standards Initiative 7.6, 7.9
3) George and Lennie dream of living as free men off
“the fat of [their own] land.” Research California
in 1937, and define the “American Dream.” Does
Lennie and George’s dream fall into the category
of the “American Dream?” Why or why not? What
might their inability to obtain their dream represent?
Does the “American Dream” exist today? How has
it changed in the 72 years since Of Mice and Men
was written?
9) Dogs are seemingly loved by all of the characters.
Research the role of dogs from the time they first
started being domesticated (caveman-era) to the
present. Come up with 10-20 facts about their role as
“man’s best friend.” What do the deaths of Candy’s
dog and Lennie’s puppy represent?
Meeting the Standards: Reading & Lit 9
4) George and Lennie are migrant workers, making
a living traveling from one work camp to the next.
Today, the words “migrant workers” conjure up a
wide range of emotions and political opinions. Do
some research on the political climate of 1937 in
regards to migrant workers. How are George and
Lennie different from migrant workers today? How
are they similar? What other manual labor jobs that
existed in 1937 still exist today?
Meeting the Standards: Reading & Lit 11
10) Several characters in the play deal with prejudice
of different types. What kinds of prejudice do they
experience, including types we may not expect?
Consider how prejudice has changed from the 1930s to
now, and what our ranch characters might experience
today. Suggest where Steinbeck might set his story
today to highlight prejudice.
Common Core State Standards Initiative 8.2
Meeting the Standards: Reading & Lit 9
5) Dorothea Lange was a prize-winning photo journalist
from the Dust Bowl era. We’ve included two of her
photographs in this guide, and you can find many
more on the internet. What aspects of life during
the time of Of Mice and Men do her photographs
depict? Which photographers or artists capture the
times we live in today?
Meeting the Standards: Reading & Lit 24.5
OF MICE AND MEN Study Guide
10