UNLV Performing Arts Center Presents The Acting Company’s OF MICE AND MEN Tonight, 10/21

The UNLV Performing Arts Center welcomes The Acting Company in a very special performance of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men at 7 p.m. tonight, October 21 in Artemus Ham Concert Hall. Founded by the legendary John Houseman and Margot Harley, The Acting Company has won an Obie, L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards and a Tony.

The Acting Company is celebrating its 40th consecutive season on the road by bringing great works of theater to towns and cities who are not always exposed to such theater on a regular basis. Since its founding by legendary John Houseman and Margot Harley in 1972, The Acting Company has launched the careers of some of today's finest actors-Kevin Kline, Rainn Wilson, Patti LuPone, Jeffery Wright, Frances Conroy, Jesse L. Martin, Hamish Linklater are all but a few who have begun their acting careers with The Acting Company -While performing 137 productions all across the country.

"This production looks, sounds and smells like the 1930s" said Ian Belknap, Artistic Director of The Acting Company and Director, Of Mice and Men "however, this play could be set yesterday, today or tomorrow. Drive on any stretch of the crossroads of America today … the context of our world has changed but our daily life values remain the same as in Of Mice and Men," Belknap continues. "Of Mice and Men fascinates audiences as it shows us ourselves and speaks to our shared human condition: to want, to love, to fear and to die."

George and Lennie are drifters with dreams of living off the "fat of the land." They arrive at a ranch to work for enough money to buy their own farm. Lennie is a man-child, a little boy in the body of a dangerously powerful man. It is Lennie's obsession with things soft and cuddly that make George cautious about who Lennie befriends. George often promises to allow Lennie to "tend to the rabbits" as a means of keeping him calm amidst distractions. When the ranch boss' wife is found dead in the barn, George is faced with a moral question: How to deal with Lennie and the situation before the ranchers find him and take matters into their own hands."

Steinbeck's stories about common people surviving uncommon tragedy and fate have captivated generations of readers around the world. George and Lennie will be etched in your memory forever.

Tickets to Of Mice and Men are $30-$40-$55 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 895-ARTS (2787) or by visiting pac.unlv.edu. Student rush tickets are $13 each (not inclusive of the facilities fee), and available one hour prior to each event, based on availability and with valid student I.D. UNLV faculty and staff discounts also are available. A $1.25 facilities fee, in addition to the ticket price, is charged on all Performing Arts Center tickets. The box office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Founded in 1976, the Performing Arts Center at UNLV is Southern Nevada's longest-running performing arts venue. Located on the north end of the UNLV campus, the PAC hosts a variety of performances each year. Information about all of the season's performances can be found on the Performing Arts Center website, located at pac.unlv.edu.

Photo Credit: Richard Termine

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