The Grapes of Wrath // The American Place Theatre

The Facts

The Grapes of Wrath

by John Steinbeck

Performed by

Billy Lyons

Adaptation

George Crowley, Emily Weiner, Billy Lyons & Gwen Brownson

Direction

Gwen Brownson & George Crowley

Recommended Ages

13 and up

HOW'S IT WORK?

All Stage Presentations include a 15 minute pre-show interactive discussion, a one hour performance, followed by a 15 minute post-show discussion, and a teacher resource guide. To get more information, or to begin the booking process, please fill out this form.

The Grapes of Wrath / John Steinbeck

Show Info

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Reading Room

This Pulitzer Prize winning American Classic, set during the Great Depression focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers, the Joads, driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, and changes in the agriculture industry. The novel illustrates the dignity and spirit of man in desperate circumstances.

In this ninety-minute educational event students will experience twenty minutes of theatrical performance told from the perspective of Tom Joad as he travels toward the “promised land” of California. The excerpts span the full arc of Tom’s epic journey and are stitched together by powerful pieces from Steinbeck’s characteristic chapters of universal narrative. The performance includes such iconic characters as the Reverend Casy and Ma Joad from this beloved American Classic. Following the performance students will have a chance to interview Tom Joad from the vantage point of the end of the novel - Tom is on the run from the law for being a union organizer and they are journalists covering the exclusive story. Through experiential exercises students will be asked to consider their own understanding of the concepts of “home”, “ownership” and “power” as they are ultimately lead through a process drama where they will have to collectively organize to fight for what they believe in.

The American Place Theatre