Compassion, tragedy come to Basile Westfield Playhouse
By STU CLAMPITT
Main Street Productions, Inc. (MSP) is staging John Steinbeck’s classic Of Mice and Men Feb. 10-20 at Basile Westfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St., and according to director James H. Williams, it is not a show for the faint of heart.
“I studied it in school, like most students did and hopefully still do, and it’s always been a big bucket list show for me,” Williams told The Reporter. “There so much that goes on in it. The biggest part that we need now is that it’s a story of love and compassion for humankind, which I think we’ve lost a lot as a society. It’s a wonderful story about that.”
At the same time, this story tackles some challenging topics and is ultimately a tragedy, so Williams asks that audiences come with an open mind.
“It is being presented as it was written,” Williams said. “We don’t condone the language, but it’s not for the weak-hearted. It is very, very PG-13. Not just because of the violence, but with the nature of the language, the racial slurs that are used and the way the story ends. We do have weapons on stage that are not marked with the typical orange marks. I am very much a realist when I direct. There will be gunshots. People need to understand the era and what’s going on.”
According to Williams, the cast and crew he and MSP have assembled will make this show something people will be talking about long after the curtains close.
“Many times we have trouble casting men in our shows,” Williams said. “I had several men audition except for the young man playing Crooks. I had to readjust some thinking a little bit, but with some creativity from my costume designer I was able to make some cast look the way I would like them to be. With some character development within my cast, it is everything and more than I wanted.”
For the leading roles, Williams has cast veteran actors Brian Coon as George Milton and Joe Wagner as Lennie Small.
“Both of them have been full of ideas,” Williams told The Reporter. “We’ve talked and talked over the weeks, especially about Lennie. Many times I’ve seen Of Mice and Men, it’s obvious that he has a disability by the way the character is played. We did not want to make it obvious that he does. You’re going to know, but we didn’t want to portray it as a stereotype. You can definitely tell there are some learning disabilities with Lennie, but it’s about how we’ve gone about doing that. Joe [Wagner] has been great about taking my ideas and his ideas and making it work.”
Williams told The Reporter that audiences can expect depth and complexity from both Lennie and George.
“Brian [Coon] is the same way, making George be hardnosed but finding that compassion and tolerance and understanding,” Williams said. “Between both of them, we’ve been able to take that story and really dig into it and ask ‘What was Steinbeck was really saying? What is this character really about? Why did this happen?’ We’ve been able to do that.”
While this is his first time directing for MSP, Williams is no stranger to community theater in Hamilton County and beyond.
“I’ve been directing for five or six years,” Williams said. “I’ve been involved in community theater since the late ‘80s. I’ve been backstage and on stage from Indiana to Olathe, Kan. I love everything about it. I’m very active also with the Belfry Theatre and I work with the youth productions there as a director.”
For this show at Basile Westfield Playhouse, Williams told The Reporter the credit goes to everyone on and behind the stage.
“I’ve surrounded myself with a very strong production crew and a strong cast so we can make my vision and their vision mesh together to have a very successful show,” Williams said.
Photos provided by Main Street Productions