John Steinbeck’s 'The Grapes of Wrath', directed by Carrie Cracknell and running at London’s National Theatre arrives bearing a unique weight of history.
Published in 1939, it’s a slow, spiralling and harrowing account of real-life mass migration in the US due to environmental disaster, in this case the man-made ‘dust bowl’ caused by changing weather and poor farming practices that resulted in massive dust storms, starving livestock, making agricultural land unworkable, and killing thousands with ‘dust pneumonia’.
The stage adaptation, written by Frank Galati, won the Tony Award when it first played in 1990. The novel has been variously lauded, burnt and banned across parts of the US for its depiction of uncaring corporate greed and worker poverty.
But ultimately this is a tale of humanity rallying to make the best of the worst situations, with a final message of hope from the ashes of despair.
Bravely rejecting the obvious temptation to create clear parallels with current global migration trends, Cracknell sticks with the original story, leaving it to the audience to infer implications for the way we’ll live, work and support others in the face of upcoming environmental collapse.
Grapes of Wrath is around 170,000 words long: it’s a complex story that demands its 2 hours 50 minute run time (with interval) at the National.
It tells the story of the Joad family (thanks to great casting, they actually look like a credible family – the ensemble accents and acting are superb throughout).
It starts and ends with the arrival and departure of Tom Joad, (Harry Treadaway) released from prison and meeting former preacher Jim Casy (Natey Jones), straight away launching into themes of justice and faith.
Tom’s extended family, grandparents, uncles, siblings but bound by matriarch Ma Joad (stoic Cherry Jones) and Pa Joad (even more stoic Greg Hicks) are fleeing their unliveable farm and heading for the West Coast of America, towards the promise of paid employment in California’s fruit picking industry.
It’s a long road trip full of salutary lessons: death, choosing your own path, birth, betrayal and camaraderie.
The family’s jalopy is designed to recall the covered wagons carrying earlier migrants across the country. The lighting and minimal stage sets are superb, and poignant musical interludes written and led by Maimuna Memon add real atmosphere to the production.
Grapes of Wrath moves at a slower pace than some other stage productions with more bangs, flashes and thrills, but its gradual unfolding through a series of stunning vignettes gives you time to think, relate and reflect on history, lessons learnt and their impact on our lives today.
The National Theatre remains one of the easiest venues for our readers to use and enjoy.
The venue has wheelchairs available to use and welcomes assistance dogs into the auditorium (with water bowl) or can look after assistance dogs during the performance with advance notice. There are easy to navigate entrances to each theatre, plenty of toilet facilities on each floor and easy to access retail units for books, programmes and ice creams.
Grapes of Wrath runs until September 14, with accessibility performances including Captioned on Saturday 31 August (1pm), BSL Interpreted on Saturday 17 August (1pm) and Thursday 12 September (7pm), Audio described on Saturday 7 September (1pm), Dementia-friendly on Wednesday 21 August (1pm) and a Relaxed performance on Tuesday 10 September (6.30pm).
For further details visit https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/the-grapes-of-wrath/
Photo Credit: Richard Hubert Smith
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