The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
Based on a Novel by John Steinbeck
Adapted by Frank Galati
Directed by Frank Hilgenberg
Starring Tim Bass, Brandon Lopez, Katrina Tharin, and Rachel Comeau
Theatre Downtown, Orlando FL</strong>
It wasn’t called “The Depression” for nothing. The Joad family grew corn in Oklahoma till the rain stopped, the wind blew their dirt to Nebraska, and the bank took what was left. Tom Joad (Lopez) paroled out of jail, this disappoints the family since busting out is a much cooler way to leave. Tom reunites with a reformed preacher Jim Casey (Bass) and brings him home to meet Ma (Tharin). Everyone is delighted to see him; they accept Casey because they are good people despite minor crimes of desperation and major fights for entertainment. They scrape up enough cash to buy a truck, stack it high with their pitiful junk, and head out on a road trip as enlightening but much less fun than Kerouac’s later journey across America. Ma valiantly tries to hold the family together, but while there may be strength in numbers there are also more mouths to feed and less flexibility in choosing ditches to spend the night in. By the time they reach the Central Valley, half the family has died or run off, and what’s left struggles in a land of milk and honey and a serious labor over-supply. Looks like The Man Going Back (David Strauss) was right when he said “Don’t read the Orange Handbill! Don’t read the Orange Handbill!”
Steinbeck’s sprawling novel does not adapt well to the stage, its more episodic than narrative but some fine acting makes up for the lecturing scenes near th middle. The opening scenes are actually quite funny, John Kelly’s speech about squishing grapes all over his face was hysterical, and Tim Bass’s ruminations on the true nature of sins get some gags as well: he muses “I got lots of sinful ideas, and now they are all making sense.” Amen. The strong center of all this poverty is Tharin’s Ma; she sees the good in everyone and everything and realizes when to cut here losses, such as when as Connie Rivers (Logan Curran) abandons her pregnant daughter Rose of Sharon (Comeau). Jeff Hole is her equal as Pa: he calls a square dance, speaks for the group and keeps his hat in constant motion. Frank Casado played multiple roles, keeping them all separate as the brain damages Muley Graves, the sneering gas station owner, and the Weedpatch Camp director.
Steinbeck paints a vivid picture of desperation and hope and argues strongly for basic dignities for workers, his arguments make better post show discussion than gripping theatre. The Joad family gets few breaks as they rumble west, dieing and fleeing along the way. As long as they have cash to spend they get some respect, but respect is proportional to resources and resources are dwindling fast. The two nicest things that happen to them are an energetic square dance in a labor camp, and late in the show someone give Ma a roll of toilet paper. Small mercies, but mercies not the less as this family faces setback after set back. I freely admit I never made it through even the Cliff Notes version of the novel, but little bits of story in this show have leaked out into American Culture from Firesign Theatre to The Simpsons. This is a literate and thorough production, and director Hilgenberg is a man unafraid to put vehicles on stage in the pursuit of authenticity.
For more information on Theatre Downtown, please visit http://www.theatredowntown.net
