"The Grapes of Wrath", Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I went to Stratford today to see The Grapes of Wrath, which is part of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

As always, we took the train there and back.

The play was at the Avon Theatre and we walked there from the train station (it's about a ten minute walk).


Having survived the drought of the 1930s Dust Bowl only to see their home repossessed by the bank, the Joad family embark on a harrowing trek from Oklahoma to California, intending to begin anew as migrant farm workers. Their arrival in this “promised land,” however, brings its own test of the human spirit.

We really enjoyed this play.

The actors were good. Tom McCamus, who played the preacher, really stood out ... he was excellent. I was surprised at how much I didn't like the acting of Janet Wright, who played the mother. Given her age and experience, I found her to be amateurish and stilted ... almost like she didn't want to be there.

The special effects were good especially the way rain and a stream were created. The lighting set the tone very well.

The balladeers/narrators were good and broke up the play. They spoke, sang and played instruments (guitar, fiddle, accordion, banjo and harmonica)

I've never read the book so didn't know what the story was about. It was funny but sad.