Usually, when a play is done, it’s done: memorized lines are forgotten, scenery and costumes are put away, and cast and crew move on to the next production. But that wasn’t the case with the Department of Theatre, Cinema and Dance production of the John Steinbeck classic “Of Mice and Men” last October.
Out of more than 200 productions considered for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region V Festival in January, “Of Mice and Men” was one of only seven productions selected, and it was the only main-stage production at the 1,100-seat Ames Center in Burnsville, Minnesota.
Once in Minnesota, adapting the set to the unfamiliar stage of The Ames Center took all day, leaving no time for even a brief run-through before the evening performance. In a venue holding more than twice as many people as Missouri Western’s Potter Hall Theater, with no microphones to amplify the dialogue, one key focus of cast members was simply to make themselves heard.
“Every single person upped their game,” said cast member Steve Catron, senior theatre and cinema major of Omaha, Nebraska. “It was like going from Triple A baseball to the major leagues in one night, and nobody missed a swing. It was astounding to see.”
The reaction of the crowd was astounding too, Catron said.
“Before the lights went out (after the last scene), you could hear the emotion,” he said. “You could hear people crying, and the audience was getting to their feet. It was something I don’t think any of us will forget.”
That audience response validated the hard work of the cast and crew, said Dallas Henry, assistant professor of theatre and video.
“We moved an audience, and I think in the end that’s why we’re performers,” he said. “That’s why we do what we do.”