A family beset by disappointment, hunger, illness and death meet over 40 different characters in multiple locations as they travel across the vastness of North America. The formidable English Touring Theatre approach their interpretation with a budget which appears to match theatrical aspiration - supporting a cast of over 20, a truck which drives across the stage, and an elaborate water system that allows actual water to rain above the actors' heads.

The Grapes of Wrath is a story of epic scope and profound feeling. At the turn of the 20th Century, in an attempt to extract as much money from the land as possible, Euro-American farmers were busy replacing the native plain grasses with cash crops of cotton and wheat. By the 1930s, annual droughts were causing the loose earth to be swept up into the air creating devastating dust-storms, sometimes being so bad as bury towns and choke people to death. The physical degradation of the land also had a financial impact. Many tenant farmers were hounded out by bankers, unable to work their way out of the massive debts they'd accrued. A huge number of families and people were uprooted from their land and forced to travel across America to California with the desperate promise of fertile land, food and work. The family of the Joads are the fictional representatives of this torrid period of history and the subject of this most terrible of road trips.

It's a sad tale (John Steinbeck (1902-1968)) and one that isn't leavened by a jolly adaptation (by Frank Galati). Dialogue is relentlessly weighty, contemplative and emotional, full of sage reflections and bitter frustrations. It requires studied performances of great dignity that connect deeply with their characters' plight. Without witnessing that connection on stage and developing empathy for each character's sincerely-enacted struggle, it is near impossible to remain interested for two-and-a-half hours. So it is here. This 20-strong and highly experienced cast are frustratingly ineffectual at conveying any depth of sentiment.

Before the Joad family, for example, gather themselves and their equipment together to make the unpredictable and dangerous journey west, it feels as if there should be an atmosphere of pending apprehension and profound sadness at being forced to leave their land. Instead, it feels as if they're all going on a cheery camping trip. For whatever reason, the production as a whole feels more like an episode of the Beverly Hillbillies than a heart-rending representation of hardship.

The authenticity of some of the performances isn't helped by meandering accents. It's hard to focus on an emoting actor when busy wondering whether their accent is more Dick Van Dyke than Deep South. Dodgy accents aside, there are some flimsy performances. Most disappointing are Christopher Timothy as Pa Joad and Oliver Cotton as Rev Jim Casy. Christopher Timothy's timid rendering of the family's patriarch is limp; Oliver Cotton's portrayal of the wise, well-travelled rogue is hurried and slight.

The few exceptions are made all the more pronounced by the surrounding superficiality. Sorcha Cusack has moments of gritty brilliance as Ma Joad; Richard Kane has some good comic moments as Grandpa Joad (when they can be heard); Rebecca Night is touching and composed as Rose of Sharon; Matthew Needham has a scene as Noah Joad which is fiercely moving. But the moments are just too few and infrequent to carry the show.

While the general standard of performances may be stereotyped and thin, the vehicle in which they are carried is slick and tightly designed. Designer Simon Higlett and team create a physical framework vividly redolent of the place and time, with costume and set authentic and evocative. Some doubt may be raised on the use of real rain in a theatre - after all, a place for the imagination. It seems all the more absurd when pouring down on soggy actors pretending to shovel imaginary earth. If half the time and effort spent on the water-system had been spent on encouraging the actors to believe in the lives of their characters and make them their own, this production would be a moving tribute to those who struggled through the poverty of 1930's dustbowl America.

Cast Credits: (alpha order): William Armstrong – Uncle John. Paul Barnhill – Weedpatch Camp Director / Salesman / Proprietor / Contractor / Hooper / Ranch Guard. Tony Bell – Salesman / 1st Agricultural Officer / Floyd Knowles / Salesman / Mr Wainright. Oliver Cotton – Reverend Jim Casy. Sorcha Cusack – Ma Joad. Mark Field – Al Joad. Jennifer Hill – Granma Joad. Gina Isaac – Mrs Floyd Knowles / Elisabeth Sandry. Richard Kane – Grampa Joad / 2nd Man. Anne Kavanagh – Woman Washing / Mayor's Wife / Mrs Wainright. Neil McNulty – Connie Rivers / 1st Man. Matthew Needham – Noah Joad / Man in Crowd / 2nd Man with Club. Rebecca Night – Rose of Sharon. Fergus O'Donnell – Muley Graves / Young Thin Man / 1st Officer / Camp Guard / 3rd Man. Damian O'Hare – Tom Joad. Holly Dale Spencer – Al's Girl / Aggie Wainright / Woman Shot in Hand. Michael Stevenson – Willy / Gas Attendant / 2nd Agricultural Officer / 2nd Officer / 2nd Man. Christopher Timothy – Pa Joad. Andrew Westfield – Salesman / Man Going Back / Deputy Sheriff / Lean Man / 1st Man with Club. Benny Young – Salesman / Station Owner / Mayor of Hooverville / Bookkeeper / Man in Barn.

Company Credits: Writer - John Steinbeck (1902-1968). Adapter - Frank Galati. Music and Songs – John Tams. Director – Jonathan Church. Choreography and Additional Staging – Stephen Mear. Designer – Simon Higlett. Lighting Designer – Tim Mitchell. Sound Designer – Jonathan Suffolk. Technical Operator - uncredited. Music Associate – Matthew Scott. Fight Director – Terry King. Casting Director – Gabrielle Dawes CDG. Dialect Coach – Julia Wilson-Dickson. Production Manager – Felix Davies. Production Manager – Sam Paterson. Company Stage Manager – Lucy Parkes. Assistant Director – Anna Ledwich. Deputy Stage Manager – Lou Bann. Assistant Stage Manager – Emily Oliver. Assistant Stage Manager – MaSimon Black. Wardrobe Mistress – Elly Tattershall. Wardrobe Deputy – Paula McIntosh. Tour Technician / Sound Operator – Neil Rose. Production Carpenter – Lez Moore. Relights – Mary Pope & Victoria Brennan. Production Electrician – Noel Smith. Press Representation – Cliona Roberts. Marketing Consultant – Mark Slaughter. Production Photographer – Manuel Harlan. Photographer - Tristram Kenton. Design & Print – Eureka. Transport – Paul Matthews Transport Ltd. Captioned Performances – Stagetext. Press (West Yorkshire Playhouse) - Paula Rabbitt. Press (West Yorkshire Playhouse) - Jane Verity. Producer - uncredited. Company - English Touring Theatre. Website (English Touring Theatre) - www.ett.org.uk. Company - Chichester Festival Theatre. Website (Chichester Festival Theatre) - www.cft.org.uk. Website (West Yorkshire Playhouse) - www.wyp.org.uk.

END

(c) Jonny Lodge 2009

reviewed Wednesday 4 November 09 / West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com