THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 19, 1995 TAG: 9510170072
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: MONTAGUE GAMMON III
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Anyone who relishes serious theater, seriously well done, should be eager to see ``The Grapes of Wrath'' at Old Dominion University.
There is nothing else on the theatrical calendar this year that is likely to approach the combination of broad scope, emotional intensity and artistic quality achieved in this epic of one poor family's cross-country trek during the Great Depression.
In scale alone, or at least in the successful use of a large scale, the production is virtually unique in recent local theater. Sweeping chronicles are usually the purview of more heavily funded operations such as the Virginia Opera and Virginia Stage Company than of collegiate and community groups. When the smaller theaters have attempted expansive works, necessary economies have usually given the shows a theatrically threadbare feel.
ODU, and other thoughtful small troupes, traditionally excel by concentrating their talent in small casts and by choosing demanding, important scripts that more commercial amateur and professional ventures cannot risk producing.
``The Grapes of Wrath'' blends the best of all these worlds. It is a grand canvas, covered with finely detailed craftsmanship, treating a story that is filled with wrenching emotions and challenging human and social content.
The story follows the Joad clan after their eviction from their share-cropping farm in Arkansas through their westward journey to California. This tale of unrelenting hardship, sacrifice and sorrow rivals the Elizabethan tragedies for its concentration of misfortunes, and for its depiction of human nobility in the face of an inhumane world.
Unlike many old dramas, this one does not end with a note of resignation, but of determination and perseverance. After each death or departure that hits the clan, they recapture their strength and go on. Of the 11 who left Arkansas, only four are left together at the end of the play. Yet there is the unmistakable message that if these people must capitulate, they will go down fighting, and that will leave something of their fortitude and courage to sustain those who come after them.
Director Christopher Hanna has assembled an extraordinary cast, beginning with Candy Aston and Bob Nelson as Ma and Pa Joad. Terry Jernigan plays their son Tom, and Marty and Charley Terry play Pa Joad's parents. Michael Volpendesta has the role of Casey, a lapsed preacher who accompanies them on their journey.
This is an impressive sample of the very best talent that Tidewater has to offer, all giving performances as rich as they have ever produced. They are bolstered by some 30 or so students from ODU's notably successful theater program, most of whom also achieve their personal best under Hanna's direction.
The performance of Carrie Newell, as the Joad's daughter Rose of Sharon, places her among the select group of actresses, like Aston and Terry, who deserve attention each time they take the stage. Her range here spans everything from the deepest sorrow to the giddiness of young love to the subtle, detailed rendition of daily discomforts.
Detail and concentration also especially mark the work of Edwin Castillo as younger son Al Joad, and of Jim Pitchford, Gary Welch and Adam Jones in multiple roles. These, and any number of other players here, are building a body of impressive achievements.
For all this talent radiating from the ODU stage, the acting is rarely flashy and never obtrusive. It is never the actor, but always the character, that is on view.
Konrad Winters' set continues the series of fine, evocative designs he has turned out for ODU. The same can be said of the costuming Keriann Yohler created, while Phil Watson's lighting compliments everything admirably.
This is a long and emotionally draining show, but well worth the time and energy it requires of its audience. It will stand, for years to come, among the high points of Tidewater's theatrical events. by CNB