Oklahoma/mtr_042″ data-orig-file=”https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?fit=2400%2C1597&ssl=1″ data-orig-size=”2400,1597″ data-comments-opened=”1″ data-image-meta='{“aperture”:”4.5″,”credit”:””,”camera”:”NIKON Z 6″,”caption”:””,”created_timestamp”:”1718398128″,”copyright”:”Kevin Berne 2024″,”focal_length”:”57″,”iso”:”2500″,”shutter_speed”:”0.002″,”title”:””,”orientation”:”1″}’ data-image-title=”MTR_042″ data-image-description=”” data-image-caption=”” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?fit=360%2C240&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=1200%2C799&ssl=1″ alt=”” class=”wp-image-518356″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=360%2C240&ssl=1 360w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=200%2C133&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=768%2C511&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=1536%2C1022&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=2048%2C1363&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=1200%2C799&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=676%2C450&ssl=1 676w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=1568%2C1043&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=2000%2C1331&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=400%2C266&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?resize=706%2C470&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MTR_042.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px” data-recalc-dims=”1″>Emilio García-Sánchez (Martín Jodes) in ‘Mother Road’, a 21st-century tale by Octavio Solís inspired by John Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, at Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre. Photo credit: Kevin Berna.
Inspired by John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, playwright Octavio Solis imagines the last living descendants of the Joad clan in Mother Road, a larger-than-life road trip that tackles issues of race, class, identity and family.
While Steinbeck’s novel traced the impoverished Joad family’s path to California from Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma, where they had been tenant farmers, this sequel presents the reverse story. A character named William Joad, who lives in Oklahoma, is old and sick, and wants to leave the family farm to a relative. He meets Martin Jodes in California and the two together take a trip along Route 66 that is the opposite of the one Tom Joad and his family took in Grapes of Wrath: back to Oklahoma from the West.
In a standout performance by talented local actor James Carpenter, William is a tough, lonely old man dying of liver cancer. He has made a success of the family farm in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, and wants to leave it to his relatives, if he can find any.
The only remaining Joad, found on Craig’s List by William’s lawyer and surrogate son, is a young Mexican-American farm worker, Martín Jodes, excellently played by Emilio García-Sánchez. Martín Jodes, the last descendant of Tom Joad, somewhat impulsive and socially conscious, accepts William’s conditional offer that the two travel back to Oklahoma. If Martin proves his worth, he will inherit the Joad estate.
During the long road trip, the two men hesitantly share life stories and slowly come to understand something. Along the way, the two become three, while Martín adds his cousin Mo to his trip, frank, good-humored and kind-hearted, well played by Lindsay Rico. Mo, an out lesbian and organic farmer, has her own ecologically progressive ideas about how the farm should be run.
Somewhat fortuitously, two other companions join the road trip: an African-American friend of Martin’s and a Choctaw Native American, apparently chosen to complete the group of all-Americans. The group is crammed into an old, bright green truck creatively placed on the rotating stage. At times, the truck is cleverly converted into a restaurant and hotel room under the direction of scenic designer Tanya Orellana.
Not all people on Route 66 are friendly. There is violence that arises from prejudice, fear and misunderstanding. In one scene, a hotel owner of Mexican descent refuses to allow the “Oakies” to stay at his establishment based on the ghostly prejudices of his dead mother.
A group of actors occasionally performs as a traditional Greek chorus in addition to playing minor roles in the production. However, although the chorus adds solemnity to the work, it can be distracting. And the few soliloquies that accompany the action do not seem to fit into the central genre of the production.
I wish Octavio Solis (author of Nuevo Quijote 2018 by Cal Shakes) https://www.berkeleyside.org/2018/06/19/relatable-and-relevant-quixote-nuevo-at-cal-shakes had concentrated on the most essential ideas that I wanted Mother Road to express.
At its core, Mother Road is a study of family, especially parents and children. But it’s also a drama about Americans overcoming their bigotry against minorities and immigrants. And on the other hand, Mother Road is about saving agricultural land from development and environmental hazards. Ultimately, the play is about returning home.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great when a work can generate many ideas. What sometimes goes wrong in Mother Road is the messiness and confusion of all the themes, making you wonder if all those themes needed to be addressed at the expense of deeper character development and a more unified thesis. However, directed by David Mendizábal, Mother Road is an excellent stage presentation full of human emotion, with a satisfying and heartfelt conclusion.
Mother Road runs through July 21, 2024 at Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. Masks are encouraged but optional for performances Wednesday through Saturday. The use of masks is mandatory in the theater every Sunday (matinees and evenings) and Tuesdays. Post-show discussions and closed captioning are available on specific performances. Tickets, $29.50 to $139, plus a $9 order fee, with lower prices for those under 30), subject to change, can be purchased online at www.berkeleyrep.org/shows/bulrusher/ or by phone at 510.647.2949.
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