A sweeping epic of the American experience
Adapted by Frank Galati
Based on the novel by John Steinbeck
Directed by Gillian Eaton

John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath comes to the stage in a brilliant and faithful adaptation by Frank Galati. Forced from their home in the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma, the Joad family piles its few possessions on a battered old truck and heads west for California, hoping to find work and a better life. Faced instead with intolerance and exploitation, the Joads suffer death and deprivation as they struggle to find their place in the world. Despite the anguish it depicts, the play is ultimately a soaring and deeply moving affirmation of the indomitability of the human spirit.

Originally premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, Galati’s adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath transferred to both the West End and Broadway to critical acclaim. The play was nominated for eight Tony Awards in 1990, winning for Best Direction and Best Play. Steinbeck’s 1939 novel was based on the author’s own experiences living and traveling with migrants from the Dust Bowl. The fictional Joads represent the tens of thousands of Americans who, forced into similar circumstances by the confluence of climate change and poverty, fought to preserve their humanity in the face of the vast inequities of the American experience.