March 1 - 18, 2007
Jon will be playing the role of Tom Joad in Stoneham Theater’s production of The Grapes of Wrath.
The classic novel about the Great Depression is stunningly adapted for the stage. More than just the tale of the Joad family’s trip from the dust bowls of Oklahoma to the “promised land” of California, it tells the story of a nation trying to regain its innate goodness, selflessness, and generosity. Steinbeck’s masterwork provides hope that America’s soul was not lost forever in the brutality of the Depression, so much as waiting to be found again.
by Jan Nargi
Sometimes there is great power in simplicity, and this is ably demonstrated in the Stoneham Theatre’s beautifully understated production of Frank Galati’s masterful Tony Award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel, “The Grapes of Wrath.” A uniformly talented ensemble cast moves and speaks with a down-but-not-out grace that at once sobers the audience to the plight of transplanted families during the Great Depression but uplifts, as well, with a spirit of determination and hope that is the backbone of survival.
At the heart of the story is the multi-generational Joad family, displaced Oklahoma farmers who pack up what little they still own in a run-down pick-up truck and head west for the green fields of California. Filled with dreams of orange trees and little white houses, they persevere in the face of starvation, tyrannical migrant farm bosses, police controlled tent cities, and untimely death.
Ma Joad, played with a centering firm optimism by the flinty and feisty Susan Bigger, is the spiritual and moral compass of the family. Her eldest son, Tom, the smoldering Jonathan Popp, is the short-fused prison parolee whose natural-born leadership qualities eventually lead him to become the hope for the future. Ed Peed’s Pa is the aging but still proud one-time breadwinner, and Alycia Sacco is the spoiled daughter Rosasharn whose pregnancy and troubled marriage teach her some life lessons that help her mature. Middle son Noah, played by Gabriel Field, is the fragile one for whom the pressure of itinerant life becomes too great; and youngest son Al, played by a winning Jeffery Dinan, represents the innocence of youth for whom love is still possible, even in the face of overwhelming despair.
A key philosopher and observer (and perhaps the voice that expresses Steinbeck’s own questioning of faith and politics amidst the inequities of great power and great suffering) is former preacher Jim Casey, played with a self-effacing sincerity by Derek Stone-Nelson. Convinced he is no longer capable of advising others because of his own uncertainty and sin, he nonetheless inspires all those around him by simply being a man of truth and uneasy conviction. He is the catalyst for Tom Joad’s transformation. It is his humanity that provides an ever-present calm in the storm.
Director Weylin Symes keeps his large ensemble cast moving fluidly through numerous scene changes and plot twists. He has also centered them around a realistically simple acting style. Incidental folk, gospel and bluegrass music led by Jeff Warner nicely underscores the pathos and mood changes of the epic story, while subdued period costumes and sets made primarily of barn board and muslin add an earthy feel that’s in perfect harmony with the show’s somber tone.
Frank Galati’s well-crafted adaptation of “The Grapes of Wrath” uses elegant but simple language to bring a powerful piece of American literature to the stage. Stoneham Theatre uses elegant but simple staging to bring Galati’s powerful dialog to life.
PHOTO CREDITS:
1. Ed Peed as Pa, Fran Renehan as Granma, Jim Wrynn as Granpa, Jonathan Popp as Tom and Susan Bigger as Ma Joad (Photo by Paul Lyden)
2. Derek Stone-Nelson as Jim Casey, Doug Griffin as Uncle John, Alycia Sacco as Rosasharn, Timothy Hoover as Connie, Ed Peed as Pa, Jeffery Dinan as Al, and Jonathan Popp as Tom Joad (Photo by Paul Lyden)