Of Mice and Men at the Oxford Playhouse

It must have been a set book as most of the packed house for the Thursday matinee performance of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men were in school uniform. This is not  an uplifting play, in fact the only laugh of the afternoon was when the dog got loose and wandered off the stage. Otherwise the grim realities of rural 1930's America make for an uncomfortable experience . I also found the first half to be very slow and repetitive. Yes, the second half picks up but the lack of humour, wit and intelligence in any of the characters is unfortunate.

I was not convinced by the two leads but there were marvelous cameos from Dudley Sutton (now well into his eighties and still going strong), Dave Fishley as the solitary black labourer and Saoirse-Monica Jackson in her first professional stage role as the lonely, very young wife of the boss's son. The last half hour is the best part of the play and the ending is highly dramatic. Shame I couldn't have arrived late.