VON MÄUSEN UND MENSCHEN

In the organizer's words:

Parched fields, scorching heat - where once there was fertile soil, there is now only barren emptiness. In the midst of this looming drought, George and Lennie, like so many others, move from one farm to the next in search of work. For little money, they work on other people's fields, wherever anything is still growing. But only until they have enough money one day. Because they dream of their own piece of land with a small house, vegetable patches and rabbit hutches. Time and again, they take refuge in this dream of great independence, but with every new job, it becomes more and more distant, because Lennie seems to attract problems. He compensates for his deep longing for closeness by stroking mice, dogs and anything soft. But what he wants to protect and care for, he unintentionally destroys with his strong hands. George takes care of him and always puts his own needs on the back burner. An unusual friendship, but for both of them the last piece of humanity in a dehumanized world. When they meet old Candy on a farm and he wants to take a financial stake in their property, their dream finally seems within reach. But an encounter with the boss's quarrelsome son and his wife, who, like Lennie, is unsuccessfully seeking closeness, spells doom for Lennie and George.

In MICE AND PEOPLE, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck condenses the misery of the Great Depression in America, in which the merciless law of the strongest applies, into a small, poignant story. All the characters dream of a better life, but not many dreams come true in a time when a few have a lot and most have nothing. Nevertheless, this masterpiece of American storytelling is carried by hope, friendship and an unshakeable belief in the good in people.

In his work, in-house director Simon Solberg continually explores pressing political and social issues. In recent seasons, he has directed productions such as CANDIDE, UNSERE WELT NEU DENKEN, THE BROKEN CIRCLE, MNEMON and PEER GYNT at Theater Bonn.