Press

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Orla Swift on the Best in Theater

You'd think that after almost 70 years, the ills of this nation that John Steinbeck described so eloquently in "The Grapes of Wrath" might be behind us. But we are not that wise a nation.

Whether it’s another lost farm in North Carolina, skyrocketing mortgage foreclosures, corporate downsizing, union-busting or battles over immigrants’ rights, the trials of Steinbeck’s Joad family persist.

So why join Raleigh’s Justice Theater Project for a tale you could read in any day’s newspaper?

First, because it’s Steinbeck. The gritty and philosophical beauty of his words are a tonic to all who fear that fine literature is in peril. And Frank Galati’s Tony Award-winning adaptation expertly culls the critical action and dialogue from Steinbeck’s irresistible exposition.

Second, Thomas Mauney’s direction is a tour de force. Slow and poignant scenes breathe but don’t drag. Rage and despair boil up organically, without stagey histrionics. And the large cast conveys a country’s worth of disparate characters and communities without pulling focus from the central drama.

You couldn’t ask for more from Steinbeck’s ex-prisoner Tom Joad than Sean A. Brosnahan’s portrayal. Brosnahan — who also played demanding roles in Justice Theater Project’s “A Lesson Before Dying” and “Dead Man Walking” — deftly conjures Tom’s imperfect blend of street tough belligerence and enduring kindness.

Susannah Hough’s Ma Joad could split the hardest heart in two, her stoic silences saying far more than a lesser actress might with high-volume wails. You need not be a mother to grieve and fret with Ma as her children head off along uncertain paths.

Kevin Ferguson has impeccable timing as Jim Casy, the scrappy former preacher who insists he can no longer sermonize but whose irreverent philosophizing proves that he has never stopped contemplating the nature of love, faith and sin.

And Jaclyn Amanna, a 15-year-old Cardinal Gibbons student, offers a performance wise and deep beyond her years as Tom’s sister, the pregnant Rose of Sharon, who loses almost everything she valued and still finds the courage to offer a stranger her most intimate possession.

These crucial performances render irrelevant any brief weaknesses in the remainder of the large cast, which ranges from experienced and amateur adult actors to children with admirable focus and ability.

Working with the vast, inventive and flexible set he designed with Miyuki Su, Mauney captures the Joads’ long journey down Route 66 within the confines of the Cardinal Gibbons High School auditorium. At three hours, it’s a long trip. But with Mauney navigating, it’s over all too soon.

Return to Press...