Tony award winner opening for South theater group
by Sandy Stamper
south news editor

   Continuing with its American Dreams season that began in the fall, the South Campus theater department opens the new semester with Frank Galati’s adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.
   The show is based on Steinbeck’s 1939 novel of the same name.
   The play illustrates the dignity and spirit of man in desperate circumstances, using elderly people, the dust bowl and gospel songs to set the tone for many of the scenes.
   David Clinkscale, Joe Vaughan and Bill Holt, South Campus faculty members, and Jon Kruse perform the music.
   Cast member Emily Hardy worked on the lighting as well as the costumes.
   “The show is very dark and very depressing because of the era the show takes place,” she said.
   The Grapes of Wrath follows the fictional Joad family on its journey from Oklahoma’s dust bowl of the 1930s to the “promised land” of California.
   The Joads, like thousands of other farmers and sharecroppers in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and other states, were driven off the land during the dust bowl and Depression.
   Desperately proud, but reduced to poverty by the loss of their farm, the Joads pile their scarce possessions into an old, battered Hudson Super Six and start heading to California, hoping to find work and a better life.
   The dauntless Ma Joad (Judy Isom), who , and the explosive Tom Joad (Robert Malone), an ex-convict, lead the family.
   Ma is determined to keep the family together no matter what the cost while Tom grows impatient with the bias and exploitation they encounter on their excursion.
   The Joads must deal with death and almost intolerable deprivation before reaching their destination, where their dwindling hopes are sealed with a final hit by the glaring realities of the Depression.
   After all the sadness and hardship that occurs during the duration of the show, it becomes in the final meaning a soaring and deeply moving declaration of the invincibility of the human psyche and of the overall goodness and strength.
   According to some of the actors, then as now, that invincibility of spirit dwells in the hearts and minds of the “common man,” throughout the world.
   The show opens when Tom returns home after spending four years in jail for a violent crime.
   He is then greeted by Preacher Casey (Jon Kruse), who has lost his faith and ultimately decides to join the Joads on their excursion.
   The group also encounters Muley Graves (Chris Randle), a man who tries to run from the harsh realities of his life and a nearly deserted home.
   The Joads decide to leave for California with a group of 12, along the way having to bury many of their companions.
   The family seems to deal with tragedy after tragedy, such as Preacher Casey’s death and Tom’s explosive retaliation, resulting in his having to leave.
   The show ends with the birth of a stillborn baby and the frantic struggle to save a man’s life by feeding him breast milk.
   The show is a startling realization of the hardships endured by people who lived during that era.
   During the journey to the promised land of California, other characters are introduced: Josh Khatena as the testosterone-fueled Al, a born survivor; David Crouch as the mentally-challenged Noah; Jason Domm as Pa Joad.
   Retired TCC faculty member Helen Hogan appears as Grandma and Anthony Cearley as the determined Grandpa Joad.
   Also, other cast members are Susan Griffith as Rose of Sharon and Don Newkirk as her handsome husband Connie, who breaks out ahead of the pack.
   In smaller roles, cast members include alumni Scott Hardgrove as Uncle John and Anthony Cortez as Floyd Knowles.
   Patty McCormick, a retired TCC instructor of speech and drama, returned to direct the production.
   Molly Floyd, fine arts department chair, said the play was chosen because its historical and literary backgrounds offer educational value to many campus departments other than the theater department.
   The novel won Steinbeck the 1940 Pulitzer Prize and is considered the cornerstone for his 1962 Nobel Prize.
   The play has had success all over the world and is the winner of the 1990 Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award.
It also was made into an award-winning motion picture in 1940, which is on the American Film Institute’s list of the best 100 American-made movies of all time.
   The Grapes of Wrath will run at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, March 3-5, in the Carillon Theatre.
   Tickets are $5 for general admission, $3 for non-TCC students and seniors and free for TCC students, faculty and staff. Call 817-515-4642 for reservations.