Have a look at the online photo gallery of last year’s production of “The Grapes of Wrath” by photographer Geraint Lewis. Damian O’Hare played Tom Joad in the co-production of Chichester Festival Theatre and the English Touring Theatre.
Theatre Photocall: THE GRAPES OF WRATH – GERAINT LEWIS
Please have a look at photographer Geraint Lewis‘ online gallery, and be prepared to stay for a while. Maybe you’d like to start with the portraits (including the late Malcolm McLaren, Anna Chancellor, Alan Cummings and Christopher Ecclestone, to name but a few) or New York?
There’s also a collection of his pictures of “The Grapes of Wrath”, the production in which Damian O’Hare played Tom Joad. 62 pictures of the cast, probably taken during rehearsals for Chichester Festival Theatre last summer.
Just click picture and link below.
Here are the direct links to the reviews of the various performances of “The Grapes of Wrath”. Directed by Jonathan Church, the co-production of the English Touring Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre in summer/autumn/winter 2009 featured Christopher Timothy as Pa Joad, Sorcha Cusack as Ma Joad, Oliver Cotton as Jim Casey and Damian O’Hare as Tom Joad. You can find a cast list here.
CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE
10 July – 28 August
NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE
1 – 3 October
THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH
6 – 10 October
KING’S THEATRE EDINBURGH
13 – 17 October
BIRMINGHAM REP
20 – 31 October
WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE
3 – 14 November
HALL FOR CORNWALL
17 – 21 November
From the Hall for Cornwall’s blog:
“Unfortunately, during last night’s performance one of the below-stage sprinklers was triggered. Due to the location, water collected very quickly and for safety reasons power in the theatre had to be shut off and the performance cancelled.”
“All audience members are being offered the choice between a refund or an alternate performance, with Box Office staff working today to re-accommodate many of last night’s audience into the remaining performances. The play is well worth seeing and we hope to be welcoming most of our disappointed audience members back tonight and tomorrow.”
Having worked 48 hrs in a row once because the pyrotechnics of a band triggered the sprinkler system at a venue, I know only too well how staff and technicians must have slaved away to get everything going again. Very disappointing for the audience, and a nightmarish experience for cast and crew of the production. But nobody was injured, that’s what really counts.
Please exchange your ticket and watch “The Grapes of Wrath” today or tomorrow; don’t miss this great production. And while you’re there, give the staff a smile and a thank you – I’m sure it would be appreciated. 🙂
Box Office can be contacted on 01872 262466
Fluctuat nec mergitur.
Aaand it’s in the news already:
The Falmouth Packet: Hall for Cornwall flooded by sprinkler system
Reviews will be updated in this entry as they come.
Damian O'Hare as Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath".
THIS IS CORNWALL: Epic rings true in 2009
“(…) The ensemble cast, including a number of local actors, is superb. Sorcha Cusack as Ma Joad, the steadfast, moral glue battling to keep the Joads together is powerfully understated while Damian O’Hare shines as her righteous son, Tom. Oliver Cotton – immensely watchable in everything he does – is a force to be reckoned with as the former preacher, forever thinking about the right thing to do. (…)”
TWITTER SAYS…
“(…) Fantastic,huge dramatic sweep. (…)” – @ TJBrinkman
The last station of the tour, and hopefully sold-out evenings before (hopefully again!) everybody onstage and backstage will get some well-deserved holidays.
17 – 21 November at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro
Reviews will follow.
Reviews will be updated in this entry as they come.
If I never see the word “accent” again, it will be too soon.
Damian O'Hare as Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath", currently at the West Yorkshire Playhouse / Quarry Theatre in Leeds.
“(…) Damian O’Hare, as Tom Joad, radiates magnetic charisma and old-fashioned masculinity (…)”
“(…) Steinbeck would have been proud of that, and I think he would have approved this production. I can think of no higher praise. (…)”
“(…) Damian O’Hare gives a stellar performance as Tom Joad, the headstrong idealist of the family, recently returned from prison. His deep Southern drawl is impeccable, as are the accents of others, creating a realism that pervades the play. (…)”
DIGYORKSHIRE.COM ****
“(…) Stand-out performances come from Damian O’Hare playing Tom Joad, a parolee who becomes increasingly militant as their journey progresses. (…)”
“(…) Damian O’Hare as Tom Joad manages to get increasingly militant without alienating or irritating the audience. (…)”
“(…) A difficult play for difficult times, perhaps, but like the scorched earth of the Californian desert it too often fails to show signs of life. (…)”
TWITTER SAYS…
“(…) Superb production with full rainstorm on stage. Glad not sitting at front. (…)” – @ Woman_In_White
“(…) It was very good, but by the end I did want to jump off a cliff. Not a happy ending. (…)” – @ILoveTK37
“(…) grapes of misery..I mean wrath , last night. Christopher timothy played pa, with a James Herriot on true blood accent. (…)” – @ sophieroberts17
“(…) Just saw an excellent production of the Grapes of Wrath – moving. Up the People! (…)” – @photographworks
“(…) It is not often I am moved to tears by a theatre production, but the English Touring Theatre’s performance of The Grapes Of Wrath had me thanking my lucky stars that my husband remembered to bring his handkerchief, which I borrowed and used liberally throughout. (…)” – @ KateSlaterPR
“The Grapes of Wrath” are heading north, and you can see the production, featuring Christopher Timothy as Pa Joad, Sorcha Cusack as Ma Joad, Damian O’Hare as Tom Joad and Oliver Cotton as Jim Casy, from
3 – 14 November at the West Yorkshire Playhouse / Quarry Theatre in Leeds
Here’s a preview on the BBC
and just in case you should still be undecided: here’s a preview video, including scenes from the play and interviews with director and actors.
Here’s a note from the theatre regarding the despatch of tickets:
Postal StrikeDuring the postal strike we’ll not be sending out any tickets for events that take place less than seven days in the future. Please collect your tickets at Box Office.
Reviews will be updated in this entry as they come.
“The English Touring Theatre’s production may not be to everyone’s taste. But it’s power and resonance cannot be denied.”
“There are also strong performances from Damian O’Hare as Tom Joad, on parole from prison for killing a man in a brawl and whose fight for justice for those around him puts his own safety in jeopardy; and Oliver Cotton as Jim Casy, the lapsed preacher who struggles to find a role for himself in society. In fact there are no weak links at all in the cast.”
REMOTEGOAT.CO.UK *****
“There are a number of strong and outstanding performances starting off with young Tom Joad the now paroled killer who clearly has an explosive character. Damian O’Hare plays the role with a building tension that you know is going to blow right about now.”
“Overall, the play was a powerful, well-directed performance that is arguably topical in the current financial climate.”
BIRMINGHAM POST ****
“But tellingly the first scene, the chance encounter on the road between Tom Joad, returning from jail, and Casey, the former preacher turned sceptic, has a focused intimacy (and a clarity of delivery from Damian O’Hare and Oliver Cotton that we don’t always experience in this theatre) which immediately gives a momentum to the narrative which is sustained throughout the first act.”
“This is an acting company to match the epic nature of the story and it’s uniformly strong.”
“This is not a play to be watched if you’re keen for a good laugh.It is a provocative, honest account of a family’s struggle to remain a family, and well worth seeing.”
“OK, so no-one expects John Steinbeck to be a bundle of laughs but the relentless nature of this adaptation of his epic Dust Bowl novel The Grapes of Wrath is enough to batter us all into the ground.”
AND LO AND BEHOLD – TWITTER
“Excellent performances from Cusack and Cotton in particular. Great cast – great show. (…) Excellent production of Grapes Of Wrath despite casts American accents ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.” @simongreenwich
“The Grapes of Wrath at Birmingham Rep last night. Very good.” @DavidCalcutt
“Thought Grapes of Wrath at the Rep was marvelloos: Bleak, bleak, bleak, bleak, bleak.” @ZalieAn
“… good acting & prod, just felt it didn’t quite work – felt like a novel on stage. Loved the jalopody” @deccers
“It was a good play, but Metro review this morning didn’t like it… there’s no pleasing some people!” @cahmn
“… great productions (…) They raise the spirit.” @RodDungate
“great story, excellent production, ingenious set. Stunned silence from audience – brilliant!” – @spideytim
“V. depressing but good.”
“There was this really fit guy and he stripped all the way down to his boxers! Ahha.”
Damian O'Hare as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath.
You can still see “The Grapes of Wrath” at The King’s Theatre in Edinburgh until this Saturday. The next stop of the tour will then be
from 20 to 31 of October.
Locals will be happy to hear that
SMOOTH RADIO GIVES AWAY FREE TICKETS
– if you can give the correct answer to the competition question. Just click the link above and tell them who wrote “The Grapes of Wrath”.
There’s also a preview in the
BIRMINGHAM POST (incl. interview with Christopher Timothy)
“(…) I heard that a few people have walked out in the interval, saying ‘I can’t take any more and I know it gets worse’. I think they meant the story and not the performances! (…)”
Damian O'Hare as Tom Joad and Oliver Cotton as Jim Casy in "The Grapes of Wrath".
Unofficial Damian O'Hare Website - news and updates 