Ion’s ‘Grapes of Wrath’
In 1988 Frank Galati adapted John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel, “The Grapes of Wrath” for Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. It was produced the following year at London’s Royal National Theatre and opened on Broadway in 1990, earning Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Direction. Prior to its Broadway run, the Steppenwolf production was presented at La Jolla Playhouse.
Currently, Galati’s adaptation, directed by Claudio Raygoza, artistic director of Ion Theatre, is seen this weekend only at 10th Avenue Theatre. The large company features some of San Diego’s best actors, notably Matt Scott as the former preacher Jim Casy, Andrew Kennedy as Tom Joad and Dana Hooley as Ma Joad.
The epic ” the tone of which has much in common with “Mother Courage and Her Children” and “Marat/Sade” ” is set in Depression-devastated America and follows the Joad family, displaced from their Dust Bowl farm, as they travel from Oklahoma to California, where handbill-advertised jobs are non-existent, and the family is split by death, desertion and deprivation.
The 2 1/2-hour journey by jalopy seems ponderous, perhaps not so much the fault of Ion’s production and Galati’s adaptation as that of Steinbeck’s episodic novel, which became a 1940 film with a young Henry Fonda in the role of Tom Joad. It’s worth seeing for the fine acting, directing and the imaginative set created by Raygoza.
Because Ion has lost its space, the entirety must be picked up and moved from New World Stage on 9th Avenue to the 10th Avenue Theatre (930 10th Ave. near Broadway), where performances take place through Monday, Dec. 11. Curtain is at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. Monday, which is a pay-what-you-can performance. Tickets are $20 general, $15 for students, seniors, military and Actors Alliance members.
‘Yours, Anne’
The weekend afforded an opportunity to see the J*Company production of “Yours, Anne,” Enid Futterman and Michael Cohen’s musical, which is based on the literary classic “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” and also on a play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett.
The performance of Jennifer Bendelstein as Anne is incandescent. She has a lovely natural voice of good quality. Other leading roles are well-handled. Live musicians under the direction of Tim Mc-Knight play well, and J*Company artistic director Joey Landwehr expands the cast to include choristers who represent other Holocaust victims and survivors. Goodrich’s libretto and Cohen’s music flesh out character. The overall experience is touching and uplifting in that it has to do with the indomitable human spirit embodied in one teenage girl.
“Yours, Anne” continues at 7 p.m. tonight (Dec. 7), 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10, at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, 4126 Executive Drive. For tickets and information, visit www.lfjcc.org or call (858) 362-1348. Before the Sunday matinee, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the JCC presents “Hanukah Happening,” a celebration of the holiday for the entire family.
