by Rita Charleston

George Milton, an intelligent but uneducated man, and Lennie Small, a man of large stature, great strength but limited mental abilities, take on ranch work in order to collect enough money to buy their own farm. The portrayal of the complex bond between the two men is shown against the background of the harsh realities of rural life in depression-era America.

Based on the classic novel by John Steinbeck, “Of Mice and Men,” which mirrored Steinbeck's experiences during a 1936 assignment for the San Francisco News covering migrant workers in California, the play runs on weekends through Dec. 13 at The Stagecrafters, 8130 Germantown Ave.

Catherine Pappas directs this play by Steinbeck, a Nobel Prize-winning author known for his depictions of the dreams and aspirations of the common man. According to Pappas, this play had several challenges to overcome. “First of all, Steinbeck was very specific about the physical aspects of his characters, so casting it was a challenge, although we were able to do it.

“There's also a fight scene in the play, so in order to make that as authentic as possible, we hired a fight director to help make the actors look convincing. This is also a period piece, so trying to represent 1937 authentically was also a challenge at The Stagecrafters because our stage is small. So we had to be very creative as far as our set deigns were concerned.”

But with the play up and running, Pappas, who grew up in Minnesota, graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in theater and an emphasis in performance, and moved to Philly in 1994, said she's quite pleased with the end result. “It did surprise me that a theater like Stagecrafters that's been around for 87 years had never done 'Of Mice and Men' before. But I'm so glad we're doing it now.” She added that she's always been interested in plays that deal with the dark side of the human psyche, and this play definitely fills that requirement.

Pappas, a resident of Cheltenham who requested that her age not be mentioned, has acted and directed at other theaters in the area but concentrates her work at Stagecrafters, mainly because of the demands of her full-time job. She is the project manager for Ticket Philadelphia, which handles ticketing and customer service for The Philadelphia Orchestra, Pennsylvania Ballet, Philly Pops and Broadway Philadelphia. “That is such a demanding job that I don’t have time to work with many other theater groups, so Stagecrafters is almost like home to me.

“I really enjoy the collaboration of the community and of the creative people I work with. Working so closely with the creative community at Stagecrafters and the process of telling a variety of stories makes me very happy that I chose this profession.”

For ticket information, call 215-247-8881.