The Grapes of Wrath
Reviews

The play is adapted from John Steinbeck's novel about the poor tenant farmers of Oklahoma who were forced to leave their homes by bankers, drought and starvation. The story makes a good social commentary on a fascinating and tragic period of history, however I felt that the play should have been left as a novel. The stage seemed overcrowded with characters each with only a little to say making it hard to feel a real connection and sympathy for any. The only memorable speeches were those performed by the once reverend, Jim Casey, having given up his faith after realising that he would rather have relationships with people than with an unknown God, he makes some very interesting points about religion, the human spirit, love and sin. The stage set up was pretty impressive with an old American car 'driving' around the stage, a river, projections of advertisements promoting the American dream and they even managed to make it rain in the last scenes. I enjoyed the American folk or Roots music in the play a lot, four salesmen sing in a barber shop quartet style. I felt that there was something missing in this play, suspension of disbelief was hard as the story and the actors weren't engaging enough. The play felt too long because it tried to include too much of the novel rather than a few key events so it got monotonous and repetitive. There was a distinct lack of dramatic tension throughout the play to keep the audience interested so when it ended I left feeling a little unsatisfied.

Charise Hameed