The Grapes of Wrath - National Theatre

This is the same script. In fact that version was booked into I think Hammersmith Lyric for a few weeks but got pulled before going on sale as the NT had the rights inside the M25. 

I wonder if they have kept the ending from the book again. I understand it but God is it an odd thing to watch in person. 

Any update whether it is going ahead? Due later in the week so them getting it going would be good!

Good news. In order for the show to go ahead, Rufus has dipped into his piggy bank and bought a replacement car. He currently has a member of the tech crew getting it stage ready - 

Wednesday next week has gone off-sale and Thursday this week has gone on sale. So I suspect a press night move...

Saw this last night (third preview), and it is what is what you'd expect: an excellent adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel.

The show is in excellent shape, and there were no show stops or other glitches, so I'm happy, despite booking for what I hoped would be the last preview lol.

It's 3 hours (7pm - 10pm) including one interval, but it didn't feel long at all, and the stage floor is high, matching eye level for an average person at about Row G of the Stalls. This latter point is significant because from Stalls Row A, I found I couldn't see everything that was going on, though I could imagine it lol.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Q: How can this show justify its existence when there's already an iconic movie version, which obviously depicts the landscape far more faithfully than this ever could?

Smartly , this one doesn't even try to depict the landscape, knowing that's not a hill worth climbing, so it poetically simply evokes an expansive horizon (on a rear screen) and the time of day.

Second, it also doesn't mess with the book trying to be topical lol.

A: What it does do is depict bits of the book the movie doesn't, especially the ending; its got live music, written and sung by the amazing Maimuna Menon; and, among an excellent ensemble, its got some fantastic performances from Cherry Jones, Christopher Godwin, Michael Schaeffer and Natey Jones.

The ending of the film is brilliant, keeping the focus on Henry Fonda's Tom Joad, but if you've read the book, you'll know it goes on many pages longer after that ending. Here, we got the book ending, and I found it very moving.

Yay for Maimuna Menon! From Ghost Quartet to Standing at the Sky's Edge, I've found her an astonishingly emotive singer. Then I saw her own show, and realised she's a terrific songwriter as well. Given the downbeat trajectory of some of the plot points here, having Menon process and contextualise the human suffering through a bluesy folksy prism, which uplifts without being phony, was exactly the right choice. She's got an onstage band behind her, and while their frequent appearances are during scene shifts and changes, the band do find themselves part of the plot at the most joyful and sustained moment of the story, which was a blast!

Christopher Godwin has a couple of characters, but his short stint as Grampa Joad is easily "nom this for an Olivier right now" good, his English accent and persona vanished, leaving only an utterly authentic wild old Okie looking for one last hoedown.

Michael Schaeffer's at-his-wits-end Uncle John is understated in the best way, never flashily drawing attention to his presence but lending immense gravitas to every scene he's in.

Natey Jones's Jim Casey is equally a wonderful creation, a preacher who wiped his religious slate clean, and started again. Jones captures that cheery openness to a tee, never naive, always hopeful.

And Cherry Jones is in a class all by herself. Her Ma Joad has the qualities of all the above characters, and embodies the struggle to live with decency and dignity even in the most undignified circumstances. She's like Imelda Staunton trying to live to the best of her ability, before the parade passes by, but in a quiet way, every day. I just had to look at her to start tearing up, not in sadness but in admiration.

Anyhow, the whole ensemble is great: Harry Treadaway's Tom Joad, like the Hulk, triumphs when he's angry; Tom Bulpett, as Noah Joad, sensitively realises the story of the most intellectually challenged Joad brother, given such short shrift in the film; and as Rose of Sharon, Mirren Mack slow builds her character such that her scene at the end of the production is a triumph.

All in all, this may not be as perfectly shaped as the John Ford film, resembling the more unwieldy source material, but it's brilliant to the tune of 4 and a half stars for me.

PS: The high stage means that Front Stalls cannot see the water based set elements, which are significant and important, and have to imagine them from being in the splash zone lol. Also, it's not clear from the very Front Stalls whether the car is being pushed around solely by people power (solving their technical problems), which is what it looks like, or whether they do have some mechanical assistance from a revolve.

Great review, Steve! 👏

Everyone has their own priorities.

I personally would stick with the ticket you've got.

Some spoilers follow. . .

So you won't see how they do the pools of water for the river, how the travellers go swimming, jumping in and splashing. I got splashed, but I couldn't see where the water was coming from.

But you will see Cherry Jones and Christopher Godwin giving stunning performances in detail. For me, it's worth the trade as I'd rather see facial expressions up close than pools of water and people swimming and stage mechanics. I'll look at the production photos later.

Obviously, Row H of the Stalls (eyeline just above stage level) would give the best of both worlds. But without a deal, those seats aren't cheap lol.

Saw this last night and was quite impressed overall. Went in thinking that I had read the book so would remember some of the storyline, was quite wrong.

Its a slow start but quite needed, its builds the characters up and the sense of hope they are feeling as they start their journey. It then steadily builds as they take their journey and reach their destination and realise the reality of their situation.

You then get that ending, which just blew me away. Think I let out an audible gasp when I realised what was going to happen.

I was slightly worried when I saw the bare stage at the start but didn't need to have worried. The acting is great, getting you to believe in the characters, sound and music really ensure that it all builds and falls. The push on / push off scenery reinforces the fragility of all.

Unfortunately we had a technical show stop about 20 minutes from the end, only about 5 minutes and got back into things quite quickly.

Was up in the upper circle slips and don't think there was any problems with sitting there, little bit of leaning over the wall but nothing more than normal. Most action is centre stage and those comfy seats are always welcome.

Despite the stop pretty much 5 stars from me.

Glad to hear that this seems to be turning a corner after a problematic start, and doubly glad to hear that the slip seats offer a decent experience!

Seems like it's mostly 3 and 4 stars? Not stellar but I wouldn't call that pretty bad. And responses on here after the initial difficulties have been mostly positive.

The first quote is from a 4 star review, the next two are patently mixed reactions, I'll give you the last though it's from The Times which I don't pay for so can't read the full thing to know if it's more balanced than the pull quote lets on. I could easily find as many pull quotes that paint it in a far more positive light, but, as you can see, I've jabbered on enough below so I'll just do two.
From that first review you quoted: "Carrie Cracknell’s epic adaptation of John Steinbeck's modern classic imbues the story with a universal resonance"
"a compelling and heart-rending story brought to life in a brilliantly striking production by Carrie Cracknell"



I'm just saying the reviews are at worst mixed, calling them pretty bad seems uncharitable. Of course being charmingly uncharitable is your thing so I don't begrudge you for it, just offering a little bit of pushback and pedantry.

All that is not to say this will be some sell-out hit though, I'll grant you that. I just hope I fall on the more positive side when I see this in September (especially as I'm dragging a couple of non-frequent-theatre-going friends to see it)!

I did find it surprising that a fair few thought the text itself was the problem (a couple even seemed to think the source material itself was the issue), praising the direction and performances but finding the adaptation lacking. Clearly it's been received positively in the past given it won a Tony. Funny given how many on the board air their frustrations at the use of new translations/adaptations instead of going back to existing ones (and I often tend to share those frustrations). I guess it's just a reminder that just because something worked in the past doesn't mean it will today.

I would think that anyone going into the play with any knowledge of the source material would expect something along the lines of 'so bleak it's almost comical' to begin with!