Green Lit!

It's official: Our fall production of "Of Mice and Men" is going to be a reality!

I admit, there's a multitude of things that could still get in our way (no one showing up for auditions being the only foreseeable worst-case-scenario right now) but I've got my two leads (have had them since February) and now I have my location.

I remember working at the Mennonite Heritage Village almost ten summers ago. They were putting on a temporary exhibit about death in a pioneering community, and I took it upon myself to draft a script (about death) that could be performed around the grounds as a tie-in. The script never made it past the first draft, but the idea of using the museum grounds as a setting for a play stuck.

Last fall I was Doing some work at the public library when I stumbled upon one of my favourite 'unrealistic projects'; performing The Crucible in the outdoor village. It's perfect in so many ways, but currently beyond my scope or ability.

From there my mind wandered over to another topic I had been ruminating on. I had recently had a renewed interest in John Steinbeck's classic "Of Mice and Men". I had recently seen a stage adaptation done by two clowns and thought it was BRILLIANT!

I froze up as the two ideas collided in my mind. I dropped what I was doing and sped off (figuratively) to do a location scout of the museum grounds. My mind was afire with the idea of doing "Of Mice and Men" there.

Half a year later, we are one significant step closer to making that project a reality.

I've been in close contact with the MHV over the winter, explaining the concept, formulating plans, working dates. And today, the last piece fell in place. We officially have the go ahead to stage our play for six shows in September/October.

I couldn't be more thrilled!

Not much time to celebrate, though. Still many, many more hurdles to leap before September 30. The next one is casting.

George and Lennie have been hard at work memorizing their lines since February. Now I need to fill in the rest of the cast. I've got two weeks to let as many people as possible know about my quest to find seven men and one young woman for my show.

(To be continued)