 "Photo: McKenzi Taylor")
As a fifth-year senior, Rob Garness has taken on his biggest and most challenging role as a theatre major at USD.
Garness, who is portraying George Milton from John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," is approaching George in a way he hopes will capture the character as those who have read the novel imagine him to be and combining that with his own idea of the character.
His biggest fear when production time comes: he's going to disappoint someone in his portrayal of this beloved literary character.
All of Garness's hard work will be on stage for the first time Wednesday when the cast takes the stage for opening night at 7:30 p.m. in the Wayne S. Knutson Theatre.
"Of Mice and Men," based on John Steinbeck's 1937 novella takes place in Salinas, Calif. during the Great Depression. The plot follows two drifters, George and Lennie, who dream of living off the "fat of the land" once they have earned enough money as farm laborers to buy their own place.
Their plans go horribly awry, however, when Lennie's mental disability leads to a misunderstood encounter with the wife of his boss's son.
Throughout the play, Steinbeck examines George and Lennie's struggle for survival in the face of economic hardship,
discrimination and loneliness.
Steinebeck's characters in this production have a lot of depth, Garness said.
"John Steinbeck is a brilliant author," he said. "He put so much psychology into his characters."
Director Charlotte Guyette said she and the cast are working to bring out the dimension of the characters and make them as accessible as possible to the audience.
"There is a lot more dimension and edge (to the acting) than you would have found in the 1930s," she said.
Guyette said when choosing a play for this slot in the season, the committee looks for a production educators will be interested in, but students will be familiar with and enjoy.
This year, she said the play not only fit that criteria, but there were also talented actors who could play the demanding roles and have the physical attributes for the roles.
Seeing the characters develop during rehearsals is what Guyette said she enjoys most.
"I love to see the actors develop their characters and also hone their skills," she said.
Garness said working with the cast of "Of Mice and Men" is an extremely rewarding experience, as the cast is dedicated to putting on an amazing show.
"Andy Heller, who plays Lennie, has been amazing. He is so passionate about acting and gets into every character he plays," he said. "It's been a blast working with him."
Garness, who has been involved in many productions at USD, said it is rare to be in a show where the cast clicks as well as this one.
The cast is very generous, committed and put everything into each piece they perform, Guyette said.
"The strongest aspect of this cast is how they support each other and work with each other," she said.
Although the cast often gets the most accolades for the end result of a production, Garness said having a great cast couldn't substitute having an outstanding technical crew.
"Steve Buechler was the costume designer and researched the roles and the time period," he said. "(Costumes) make our characters so much who we are and personified who we are."
To truly capture the 1930s, Guyette said set designer Randy Niles tried to include as much of the environment described in the novella and the play. The time period calls for the use of a lot of wood, but he tried to incorporate other materials and make it look like it takes place during the 1930s without question, she said.
Even if an audience member has not read the novella, it is easy to identify with at least one character in the show, Garness said, although the play is set decades ago.
With his own character, George, Garness said people can identify with loving someone and not fully knowing how to take care of them.
Any audience member should be able to connect with the character Candy, Garness said. Candy is a lonely man whose goal is to find someone to care for him and someone who he can care for.
The cast has been preparing for opening night since the first weekend school was back in session and has spent three hours daily in rehearsals. Garness said it has been worth each minute of work, as he has improved tremendously as an actor during his work on "Of Mice and Men."
"No actor can fully grow on his own. An actor grows by working with other actors and by being inspired by directors and working with amazing technical crews. Acting is not about you," he said. "This was a show where I grew a lot because everyone was so amazing."
Reach reporter Holly Miller at Holly.Miller@usd.edu.
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