Theatre Review: The Grapes of Wrath, New Wimbledon Theatre

This stage adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic book is a juggernaut of a show: large, lumbering and long.

It is not entertainment – and I use the term loosely – for the faint-hearted. Despite being superbly acted by the large English Touring Theatre cast, under the direction of Jonathan Church, the three hours of unremitting misery which it entails as the sad story of the Joad family unfolds is heavy duty stuff.

There's no light relief – it's all shade. In fact the dim lighting used most of the time for the sake of atmosphere did become a bit too much for me.

The Grapes of Wrath is a genuine tale of woe, centred on the tragedy of the Dustbowl of America in the 1930s when the crops failed, there were constant dust storms and the banks threw sharecroppers out of their homes.

Thousands of families lost everything, packed up what meagre belongings they could carry and made their weary way from Oklahoma to the promised land of California where fruit grew in profusion and they believed there would be picking jobs waiting for them.

The Joads represent the heartbreak and broken dreams of so many Americans at that time. Their personal journey is punctuated by death and desertion yet they remain optimistic.

Sorcha Cusack and Christopher Timothy gave strong core performances as Ma and Pa, always generous despite having so little themselves, with a fine contribution from Oliver Cotton as the Reverend who hitches a lift with them.

Damian O'Hare hit the right mood as Tom Joad, fresh out of jail and looking for a new life. And I also liked Rebecca Night's sweet Rose of Sharon, the pregnant girl whose gift of life is both shocking and deeply affecting.

The effects are classy – an old jalopy piled high with the family's bits and pieces and rain which drenches the characters as they battle the elements.

It's an epic alright, but Steinbeck's message of humanity and compassion does get a bit suffocated by a blanket of worthiness and a running time which could survive cutting.

Diana Eccleston

3 stars