Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students (21 and under).
The performance is appropriate for all audiences, but contains strong language.
FIVE FACTS ABOUT THE NOVEL:
• Written by John Steinbeck, who won a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for it, and later in 1962 was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, largely in part because of the novel. The stage adaptation by Frank Galati won the 1990 Tony Award for Best Play.
• “The Grapes of Wrath,” was published 75 years ago on April 14, 1939.
• The book has sold more than 14 million copies in the past 75 years.
• Steinbeck’s references to “Route 66” — the US Highway that ran from Chicago to California — at the “Mother Road” immortalized that nickname for the highway, and helped create the place that road holds as a major part of U.S. history, in association with the significant migration of people from the Midwest to California during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl events.
• Since publication, the book has been banned, burned and censored. The censorship of The Grapes of Wrath would actually be a key factor in the creation of the Library Bill of Rights, the statement that is described by librarians as ensuring that American citizens have the right to access whatever information they wish without question, and the right to utilize that information.
When John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath was first published 75 years ago, the events that inspired the book were still very real and raw to most Americans. Those who had lost everything during the economic collapse that defined a generation saw themselves in the story of the Joad family and their journey to California with the hopes for a more promising future. In the seven decades since, the story continues to resonate with readers who find inspiration in the Joads’ determination and strength.
Beginning this Thursday, Market House Theatre will present the theatrical adaptation of the novel, featuring dozens of new and familiar faces onstage. Playwright Frank Galati’s script transforms the iconic book into a theatrical event using music and narrative devices that will tell the Joads’ story in a meaningful and moving way. “Grapes” is a book many remember from high school or college literature class, or from the 1940 Academy Award-winning movie starring Henry Fonda and John Carradine. It is also a novel that has been censored, banned—and burned—for its “propagandist” and “pro-communist” message, as well as for what some found to be vulgar and obscene language and themes. Yet it has also been acclaimed and honored for its depiction of the plight of the poor and of the conditions faced by migrant workers.
It is the story of a family’s suffering during the Great Depression, but it is also a story that could be told of many families today. After losing their dust-covered farm in the drought that destroyed Oklahoma farms, the Joads load their few possessions onto the battered family truck and set out for the Golden State, believing that jobs and a better life are just ahead. Ma Joad (played by MHT veteran Diane Byrd) and her son Tom (Grady Wring) are often at odds on the trip. Tom—recently released from prison—becomes increasingly frustrated with the attitudes and intolerance experienced by poor families on their way West, and Ma is determined that the family stay together no matter what setbacks they encounter.
“Ma is very strong, and very philosophical. She reminds me of my great-grandmother who lived through the Depression and was a farm woman,” says Diane. “I can relate to Ma from stories my mother told me about her grandmother.” Diane says that while her family didn’t “have much” when she was growing up, she thought they did. She realizes now that there were riches in having a loving, supportive family, food on the table, and the basics.
“We didn’t have the hardships the Joads had,” she says. “In their struggles I can draw the parallels between what is going on now as compared to what happened during that time.” Diane believes that the Joad family relationships are what makes this story so endurable. “The humor and love and family strength, and need for family—I think people of all ages are going to find it relatable.”
Ma’s relationship with Tom in particular is complicated. “I get the idea that he’s the one she seemed to cater to,” she says. “I think she respects him, turns to him a lot for strength.” Tom’s return to the family is an important story arc. “He was in prison and the thought she would never see him again was scary for her. Once he returns from prison, she feels like the family is whole again. She needs him for support,” she says.
“I think Tom is an interesting character,” says Grady. “He is trying to reintegrate himself into a society that isn’t the same as when he went into prison. Everything has changed and he doesn’t handle it well.”
Early in the play, Tom Joad arrives at the family homestead to find it abandoned. Once he is reunited with his family on their trip West, he realizes the magnitude of the changes that have happened while he’s been gone. “He goes home and looks for something recognizable,” says Grady. “And yet when he finally meets up with his family, they are heading into this brave new world—change he finds difficult. It seems he would almost rather be in prison where everything is constant.”
Tom meets up with a former pastor, Jim Casy, played by Steve Schwetman. Casy is “lousy with the spirit” but has fallen from grace by the temptations of flesh and drink. His renewed views on faith are more pragmatic than spiritual, and he provides a dialogue of morality to the events as they unfold. “Casy is a pastor who has lost his faith,” says Steve. “All those things he had held true to himself are not as true. He sees what is happening around him and says, ‘...the spirit ain’t in the people much anymore.’” Steve says that Casy’s story is relatable. “I haven’t had a crisis of faith like Casy, but I know family and friends who have. It does a number on Casy. He has to go away to re-evaluate his beliefs. “Casy has a practical approach to his faith,” continues Steve. “He talks to God, instead of praying. “It’s a dark story, but it is ultimately about the human spirit making it through hard times,” says Steve. “The folks back then were going through exactly the same things we are now—economic difficulties and the threat of war.”
The family experiences death and deprivation on the journey, but they persevere with courage, faith and the belief that something better is just ahead.
Stepping into major roles in their first or second appearance on the Market House Theatre stage are Todd Yocum as Pa Joad and McCracken County High School students Jalin Burnette as the eldest daughter, Rose of Sharon, and Ethan Hines as the skirt-chasing Al Joad. Aaron Spoden plays the stoic Noah Joad, Jason McHaney is John Joad, and LOMS student Patrick McHaney and PMS student Hadley Pierce play children Winfield and Ruthie Joad. Jeremy Teague plays Rose of Sharon’s husband Connie, with Rick Brewer and June Culp as Grandpa and Grandma Joad. Tim Franklin, Abigail Shelby, Alisabeth Culp, and Don Oliver, many of whom are making their first Main Stage debut, provide musical transitions using songs from the 1930s and ‘40s that tie the story together.
The set is also symbolic of the simplicity and economy of the lean times the family is experiencing. Director Michael Cochran says that the key fixture on the set—the family’s ramshackle truck—is in a way a member of the cast. “Twelve people and all the family possessions are contained in this worn-out old vehicle that, like the family, runs on faith and carries the hopes and dreams of a new life,” he says.
The Grapes of Wrath won the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 1940 and the National Book Award, and it was cited when Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Frank Galati’s adaptation won the 1990 Tony Award for Best Play.
Article provided by Market House Theatre.
