The Politics of Art & Authenticity

I’m going to go off on a little rant here first, so just deal with it. How many people were aware that there was a professional theatre company putting on a show at Baruch this semester? How about if there were more than one? No, probably not, because the only way you’d really know is if you read the “Weekly Baruch e-mail” nonsense that buries this stuff at the end. Come on! This is professional theatre, why isn’t it known campus-wide? (Long story short: PROMOTE THE ARTS.)

So. Last night. BPAC. 8 PM. A cold and rainy evening. The Acting Company. Of Mice And Men. Wow.

The Acting Company is this amazing theatre company that was first formed by the members of Julliard’s Drama Class, including members like… Patti LuPone. (I can’t escape her, but I can’t really say I’m trying.) This season, they’ve been traveling across the country performing the stage-adaptation of John Steinback’s novel Of Mice And Men. The play was housed in the Nagelberg Theatre, so it wasn’t your typical Proscenium Stage show. Instead, a wooden platform right in front of the seats housed several compartments that could be lifted up to create the illusions of a doorway, beds, and a hayloft. The actors would move props around onstage between scenes, which I felt only added to the imagery of the play being set on a busy farm.

It was performances like this that make me reaffirm one of the many reasons why I love the theatre: it brings stories to life in a way your imagination can only dream of. Of Mice And Men is known by practically everybody, but the way Lenny was just so innocent and childish throughout, or those glimpses where you’d see that George really does care about Lenny–despite his attitude towards him on occasion–and you have a piece of work that takes a book and turns it into a 3D-masterpiece.

I just really, really, really liked this show???

Lenny broke my heart, and I can only imagine the hours and energy that Christopher Michael McFarland put into the lovable oaf who’s entire character can be summed up with: “He ain’t bright, but he’s a hard worker.” George, embodied by Joseph Midyett, made me rethink my earlier notions of the character, because he’s more than a guy down on his luck and stuck with Lenny because that’s just life. The two of them have been together for so long, and Lenny’s right, they’ve got each other and that’s all that matters.

Casting wise, everything was perfect, and I was surprised to see how believable a younger actor could be in the role of Curly (Michael McDonald), considering I always believed him to be at least in his 30s.

Like I said before, the staging and set design was atypical to most performances, but it all just added to the intimacy of the play. If you were to look up at the right moments, you’d see a man in the catwalks above letting leaves fall down during the clearing scenes – it all worked wonderfully. The lighting–especially during that last scene–worked to show the dwindling sunlight out in the fields, and the small stars shining through the backdrop gave only the faintest glow to Lenny’s happy face moments before George, well, you know what happens. It was powerful stuff, and I loved every second of it.

Photo Credit