I just got back from Texarkana. We took Of Mice and Men there for 2 days. I knew we were in trouble when John Steinbeck's name was spelled wrong on the marquee. We got a ton of complaints after our first show which was a student matinee because of the language and context. Seriously? It's John Steinbeck. First of all it's a classic. And second if you are bringing students to see it, pull out the book, read it. It's really short. Familiarize yourself with the material. Don't be lazy and then blame everyone else. We didn't pull a fast one on you. We didn't tell you we were doing Wizard of Oz and then show up with Of Mice and Men. We preformed the play as written with one exception. We edited the language and changed all the goddamns to damns.
Anyway, I leave you with this experience. I was in a bar and this guy comes up to me and says, "Hey, you wanna go out to my ride and have a nip of my moonshine?" I declined, because, well, I'm a paranoid new yorker. He cold have wanted to take me out to his truck, drug and and rape and kill me. It was nice to be asked though, and if he had asked any of the friends I was with, I would have gone, just not alone. To drink unknown homemade liquor out of truck. Even I am not that trusting.
