Last Updated on February 28, 2025
Steinbeck’s novel reprised at the National Theatre
John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize winning portrayal of the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath was adapted for the stage by Frank Galati in 1988 and ran at the National Theatre the following year. Now reprised and directed by Carrie Cracknell, the production has a sizeable cast and runs to around two and a half hours. Many of the audience will have read the book during their school years and film buffs might have seen the Academy Award winning film, a 1940s black and white classic – directed by John Ford and starring a young Henry Fonda. It tells the story of the Joad family in Oklahoma who are driven off their farm by the Dust Bowl – a series of droughts and agricultural mismanagement that coincided with The Great Depression of the 1930s and resulted in the largest migration in American history. Moving west, great numbers of people looked to California as a promised land where they would find work and a life free from poverty and starvation. Steinbeck does not sugarcoat his novel which is littered with broken dreams while also paying tribute to resilience and human kindness.
What is the relevance of this story for audiences nearly a century later? Aside from great storytelling, the devastation brought about by drought is a salutary message to our climate change emergency. The plight of refugees fleeing hostile circumstances in the hope of a better life is also a message for our times and the play might remind us that such circumstances are part of the human experience and with the climate already threatening to make parts of the planet uninhabitable, it is a challenge we all have to face up to. Although the play starts off powerfully with a dust storm wreaking devastation, this 1988 adaptation feels rather dated with much of the dialogue focused on Christian questions about the nature of sin and redemption. I wondered whether a more contemporary adaptation of the novel might focus more directly on climate change and the refugee crisis that lies in its wake.
After a strong opening scene, the first half of this production relates the return of Tom Joad (Harry Treadway) from prison, in the nick of time to join his family who are about to leave for California. The action focussed predominantly on the Joad family migrating west, driving 1000 miles in an old jalopy that against all the odds gets to its destination even while not all the family members survive the journey. By the interval, I felt as if I had travelled quite a number of those long miles. While the endless rotation of the car on stage made its point about the long tedium of the journey and the suffering that ensued, the Director might have saved the audience by trimming the first half of the production.
After the interval, there was a pick-up of pace as the play became more overtly political – railing against the exploitation upon which capitalism is built with unscrupulous corporate greed pitted against workers who have only strike action as a weapon. The set design (Alex Eales) of the tent towns was particularly effective. The disparity between the rich and dying-of-hunger poverty is well depicted, culminating with the final scene which is staged like a pieta, the triumph of humanity in the face of unbearable suffering. The large cast was headed up by the mother of the Joad family, Ma Joad, played by American actress Cherry Jones. Her performance was particularly affecting as she tried against the odds to keep her family from disintegrating and its individual members safe and alive. She was convincing as the matriarch dispensing advice and guidance while turning a blind eye where necessary, and, like the river she described, just keeping moving along. Natey Jones as Jim Cosy, brought power to the role of the ex-preacher who has more questions than answers about Christian faith and is both human and humane, bravely facing down violence and oppression. Although the play deals with depressing content throughout, there are some lighter moments and the star of these was Cristopher Godwin as Grampa Joad.
A device that worked powerfully was the use of four musicians led by Maimuna Memon on guitar and vocals. She has a searing and soaring voice which conveyed the pain that unfolded scene by scene. By bringing on the troupe between every scene change it lost some of its power and also added many minutes onto what was already a long production that could have been trimmed.
I had a similar response to the dim lighting (Guy Hoare). While it started off very well – the opening scene put me in mind of a Rembrandt tableau with light shining from the side of the stage, fleetingly illuminating faces – by the end of the production the almost perpetually dark staging became somewhat soporific.
This production of The Grapes of Wrath is rather safe and staid. The actors did their best but the adaptation felt dated and the production was too lengthy. Perhaps it has been selected as the summer holiday show to appeal to families and those studying Steinbeck’s novel as part of the school curriculum, but I would hope for more challenging material from the National Theatre.
The Grapes of Wrath runs at Lyttelton Theatre until 14 September 2024
Lyttelton at the National Theatre,
South Bank,
London
SE1 9PX
Leave a Reply