The Grapes of Wrath

"On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food.

And the anger began to ferment."

What a heartbreaking story and a heavy one. John Steinbeck's novel set in the great depression turned into a play about a family trying desperately to hold onto one another, their lives and their hope in the midst of devastating crisis. I have to admit the first time I saw it I was too overwhelmed to appreciate it. The shock of what desperation could cause us to do was too much for me to take in and I didn't like it.

Thankfully I was lucky enough to have a ticket to a second performance (the first was a freebie thanks to the festivals annual Easter egg hunt for tickets). This time the beauty of the story, not the sadness of it all, but the beauty of the love this family has for one another and their desire above all to stay together is what hit me.

Acted beautifully by actors in the company the standouts for me were Janet Wright as Ma, Evan Builing as Tom and Tom McCamus as Jim Casy. The narrating band was also a great treat.

After the second viewing I got to thinking about the plight of migrant workers. Firstly they do still exist in Ontario, now manly comprised of poor immigrant families with no other choice of employment. Yet we choose to ignore the unregulated work they are forced in to. That anyone could be treated like the lepers the Joads were in our time appals me. It was an eye opener, seeing what folks went through, what they survived and what is still happening now.

John Steinbeck's book was controversial and convicting back then, I wish I could say it wasn't so relevant now.