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Hard lessons in Grapes of Wrath still timely |
Adam Joe and Jimmy Hodges |
Kevin Sutley first discovered Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath only five years ago-but the Joad family has stuck with him ever since. Sutley , a master of fine arts directing candidate in the U of A's Department of Drama, chose the Frank Galati adaptation of the epic drama for his thesis show. The story, which follows the Joad's trek across America in search of a better life, runs in the Timms Centre for the Arts October 1 - 10, 1998.
Sutley's choice came from a love of the story and its characters, and recognition of the play's relevance to today's audience: "I love the book-the story-the politics of it-but it's the injustice of it all that really affects me." Sutley comes from a working class background, and grew up in conservative central Alberta, so he identifies easily with the Joads and their choices: "These are good, good people-with good hearts, but they're at the bottom of the ladder and it's a hard place to be." Parallels with today's world are evident everywhere to Sutley: "I think the play is still incredibly meaningful-we have governments acting as strike breakers, staff at every level overworked and taken for granted. We live in a really cynical world, but there's no one you can see to blame."
Steinbeck's characters start their journey believing family is central and sacred, but they are led to a greater discovery: "The family's not the most important thing in the end: it's bigger-it's people, it's life," Sutley says. "We try to surround ourselves with a few human beings we can feel connected to, but we have to go beyond that and really look at other people." His research revealed early criticism of the Steinbeck piece citing racism in the all white character list; Sutley's production has the narrators cast as an immigrant Chinese family. Their journey parallels that of the Joads and underscores the history of oppression of migrant workers, which included Chinese, Japanese, Hindus, Sikhs and Mexicans.
A highly realistic play, performed on a proscenium stage to a fairly traditional theatre audience, is a departure of sorts for Sutley. "The kind of show I like is less traditional, less conventional," he admits. Still, the director can see the appeal of realism to the performers: "I totally understand why actors love realism-it's so full emotionally." His production, supported by the great technical resources and personnel available to him at the Timms, includes "a real truck, rain, real grain, and a river that runs in a trench across the stage. We never let you forget it's on stage," says Sutley.
In fact, Sutley has assumed a huge challenge for this, his final directing project at the University of Alberta. Not only are the technical requirements of the production "a little scary," but Sutley juggles the challenges of a 41 member cast-including two preteens-many of them volunteers. One cast member cheerfully said her character should have a dog, and proceeded to provide the live prop. Lulu is now a much-loved member of the ensemble.
Sutley is aware of the rare opportunity the show's scale affords him; the Broadway production of The Grapes of Wrath boasted a production budget of $1.5 million. Few theatres can afford to mount such a work these days, and Sutley knows it will be a long time before he directs a cast of 40 plus again. Of his own journey at the U of A, Sutley says, "It's been a great two years. I loved the academic challenge." And the discoveries he has made pulling together this show will inform future projects, he says.
But for now, he's looking forward to completing the written portion of his thesis and then collapsing on a beach in Mexico.
Grapes of Wrath; October 1-10,
Timms Centre for the Arts, University of Alberta campus. Phone 492-2495 for ticket information.
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