BWW Reviews: THE GRAPES OF WRATH from Circle Players

Featuring a stunning lead performance by Heather Alexander in the pivotal role of Ma Joad, director Clay Hillwig scores an artistic success with his production of Frank Galati's The Grapes of Wrath - based upon John Steinbeck's epic novel - to open Circle Players' 2010-11 season at The Keeton Theatre.

Performed by Hillwig's large cast against the backdrop of Jim Manning's beautifully conceived and exquisitely realized set that magically transforms the Keeton's intimate stage into a panoramic view of dustbowl Oklahoma, the fiery Southwest and the lush, verdant fields and orchards of California, The Grapes of Wrath is a visual tour de force that other community theater companies - frankly, any theater company of whatever ilk - should aspire to achieve.

Faithful to Steinbeck's original masterpiece, Galati's script reimagines the tale of the woebegone Joad family to transport the tale to the stage. Son Tom (played by Ryan Williams), paroled from prison for killing a man during a brawl at a dance, returns only to find that his family has been forced off their farm. Encountering a former preacher (Brian Cunningham), the two join forces to find the Joads packing up their rattletrap truck for the ultimate journey to the promised land: California, where the produce is overflowing and the jobs are plentiful.

Setting off on the journey with their meager belongings tied to the truck, with the 13 members of the extended Joad family hanging on for dear life - both literally and figuratively - the rag-tag band embarks on an adventure made all the more haunting by the harsh realities of the Great Depression and the enormous toll of loss and despair that poor Americans had to bear in order to eke out even the barest of existences.

It's a moving tale that takes an obvious emotional toll on the audience as the horrors encountered by the Joads on their trip are brought vividly to life onstage. Death and fear decimate the family on its journey, while the harsh treatment of poor but proud Americans is displayed in intensely staged tableaux that become seared on the audience's collective psyche.

The play's closing scene - in which daughter Rose of Sharon (Tonya Pewitt), who has just delivered a stillborn child, nurses a starving man with mother's milk - is artfully staged and remarkably compelling in its simplicity.

Any directorial missteps in the productions come largely as the result of the musical numbers staged to capture the period flavor of the play. Although incidental music was composed for Galati's play when it was staged to much acclaim in London and New York, Hillwig has decided to stage numbers featuring a live band in the theater. Had the music been utilized more as underscoring than featured as prominently as it is, the result would have been far more effective.

During the Act One closing scene in which the Joads finally arrive in California and the family members gaze on the beauty of the California farmlands, a chorus appears behind them to sing "There Will Be Peace in the Valley." The song is beautifully sung and the scene is quite moving, but the appearance of the chorus is somewhat jarring. This isn't The Grapes of Wrath! The Musical, but that's how you feel at intermission. Granted, all of the music is beautifully performed and the cast's intentions are pure, but the musical interludes seem intrusive and somehow out-of-place despite that.

Hillwig's creative vision for the play is obvious, as is his understanding of Steinbeck's source material, and he is able to bring his imagination to the stage effectively, although one scene in particular - when some of the Joad men wash off the road's dust in the cooling waters of the Colorado River (Manning's amazing set somehow becomes that body of water in one scene, a roadside burial place in another) - seems ill-conceived. The men go skinnydipping in their longjohns, which is incongruous and stagey. Surely, Hillwig could have found another way to stage the scene.

Audience members whose exposure to The Grapes of Wrath comes primarily from the classic Academy Award-winning film version that starred Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell will find that the focus of the play has shifted somewhat from Tom Joad's idealistic tale (although certainly that remains a vital part of the story) to the family matriarch, played so eloquently in understated fashion by Alexander. Ryan Williams' Tom lacks the charisma needed for the audience to totally identify with the character, although he clearly gives a competent reading of the part.

The play is confidently brought to life by Hillwig's large cast, with some castmembers garnering particular notice with their superb portrayals, including Pewitt and Cunningham and Doug Allen as Pa Joad, Debi Shinners and Philip Brady as Grandma and Grandpa Joad, Patrick Goedicke as Uncle John and Ryan Rehnborg as Connie. Galati's script also calls for narrators who help propel the story along its rather circuitous route, and Maggie Pitt, Christina Pryor and Jack Chambers assay this difficult assignment with much grace.

Manning's imaginative set is amazingly versatile and rustically beautiful, providing the perfect setting for every one of the play's many scenes. It is expertly lighted by designer Cathy Matthews, who pairs with Manning to create a visual feast from what are very simple elements.

- The Grapes of Wrath. Based upon the novel by John Steinbeck. Adapted for the stage by Frank Galati. Directed by Clay Hillwig. Produced by Suzanne Hillwig and Mel Fowler-Green. Presented by Circle Players at The Keeton Theatre, Donelson. Through August 29. For details, visit the company's website at www.circleplayers.net.

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