Of Human Bondage is a great play by Vern Thiessen, based on the novel by W.Somerset.Maugham. I saw this show on May 10, 2014 at the Young Center for the Performing Arts in the Marilyn and Charles Bailie Theatre. It was a small three-level theater. It has a lower level, main level and balconies. It had very uncomfortable seats that were very close to the row below and above us, even so it had a very mellow and relaxing atmosphere. The audience consisted mainly of elderly and middle-aged men and women. The people sitting behind me were very rude, constantly making hateful comments about the show and kicking the seat every ten minutes. The jokes were mostly aimed at an older audience, but I understood them too. Vern Thiessen, Canadian playwright, based the play on the book written by W.Somerset.Maugham in 1915 and on the film made in 1935 by W.Somerset.Maugham. Vern was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, studied at the University of Winnipeg and then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He then went to the University of Alberta where he received his master's degree in Fine A. He is the former president of both the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Playwrights Guild of Alberta. Of Human Bondage is about a young medical student/artist named Philip Carey who lives in England. He has a clubfoot and faces a daily struggle with people constantly judging him. He wanders into a tea shop while trying to help his friend start his game with the tea shop girl. He seems to show no interest in the girl and is actually quite rude to her, often talking about the German boy she was flirting with. That is until his friend leaves after thinking that Philip has ruined all his chances. Once they have some time alone, Philip activates the spell and immediately places himself in the center of the card. Norah was so smart and only wanted the best for Philip. He usually spoke softly but had a very loud laugh. She often made facial features very obvious when people spoke to her while using hand gestures and other body movements. In my opinion the most effective character was Mildred because she had the greatest impact on the story and especially on Philip. She literally sidetracked his life multiple times and he was so infatuated with her that he couldn't do anything about it. She had to die for him to move on. I don't think there was a less effective character because the cast was so small that everyone was important. Even a guy in the opening scene who had about 6 lines was surprisingly effective; the saying "it's all in the way a man behaves" accompanied him throughout the play, especially because the little boy also had clubfoot, so Philip could identify with him.