By Linda Ayres-Frederick
With a few bumps along the way, Octavio Solis’ latest oeuvre, Mother Road at Berkeley Rep, takes on epic qualities as a 21st-century tale inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.
Before the Greek-like chorus of supporting characters appears, a massive weathered barn with a missing roof and side slats stands as a lone metaphor for the surviving but missing family members that patriarch William of the Joad family has set out to find. Aided on his quest by his lawyer Roger (a stalwart Michael Moreland Milligan), William is determined to deed his vast 2,000-acre Oklahoma farm to a Joad descendant to keep it out of the hands of developers who would subdivide it for profit. James Carpenter completely embodies his urgency.
William is close to succumbing to liver cancer when he finds Martin Joad (a hot-tempered Emilio Garcia-Sanchez), the young Mexican-American migrant worker descended from Steinbeck’s Tom Joad.
“… Mother Road is a richly peopled saga …”
Once identified as suitable to the task and willing to return to the Oklahoma homestead, Martin makes known his unwillingness to fly. The barn splits and reveals the vehicle he intends to drive, a convertible green pick-up truck that transforms into several set pieces along the mother road. Raise the hood and out slides a formica table in a roadside diner where “the food looks better on the menu than it does on the plate.” Drop the back’s sides down, add pillows and a bedspread, and it becomes a king-size motel bed.
William agrees to go by car. He searches Martin’s belongings at a rest stop and finds a family Bible. Infuriated by William’s action and breach of trust, Martin is ready to call the whole thing off until William reassures him that the Bible is further proof of his identity and might even offer information about where William’s grandfather was buried on his way to California from Oklahoma.
As the journey moves forward, characters are revealed to be as multi-layered and interconnected as the forces of nature that drove their ancestors to leave — abandoning children, land, and lovers — but still seeking connection to their mothers and the mother earth that once supported them. Even James (a hopeful Branden Davon Lindsay), a traveler along the way deemed a madman, shows his Bible with the Book of Revelations ripped out, explaining that each of us has secrets to be revealed. “I see angels in the trees…We all got reasons for the things we do.”
Tribal and racial prejudices know no bounds and come to a head more than once, as in a brush with the law when tensions mount high. We can only hold our breath as Martin has a highway patrolman in a stranglehold.
A master craftsman, playwright Solis’s scenes swiftly shift from present to past and back to the present, moving seamlessly from realistic dialogue to soaring poetry. Details dropped in early bear fruit in later scenes.
Deftly directed by BRT’s Associate Artistic Director David Mendizábal, Mother Road is a richly peopled saga encompassing an entire movement in American history brought into focus through the personal quest of one dying man.
The production could benefit from multiple viewing. As entertaining as the visual aspects of the truck with visible tailpipe exhaust and revolving set provide (thanks to scenic designer Tanya Orellana), this reviewer found that the horizontal lighting on both sides of the stage simply distracted focus from the main action. And while comic relief from Mo (a standout Lindsay Rico) and multiple roles notably performed by Courtney Walsh, Cher Alvarez Daniel Duque-Estrada, and Benny Wayne Sully add variety, Mother Road’s chorus could maybe use a bit more coaching to stay on key in the final sung number. Stronger consonants would make quick-paced ensemble numbers easier to understand, too.
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ASR’s Executive Editor, Linda Ayres-Frederick, is the Artistic Director of San Francisco’s Phoenix Theatre. Since 1985, she has enjoyed a rewarding career as an actor, director, producer, critic, and playwright, twice granted the Shubert Playwriting Fellowship. Linda’s plays have received over 20 productions in NYC, the SF Bay Area, and Alaska, where she has performed in addition to France and Edinburgh. A 3Girls Theatre playwright in residence, member of the Dramatists Guild, American Theatre Critics Association, AEA, AFTRA/SAG, she is a Sarah Lawrence College graduate (Bronxville, N.Y.) and has written for the Yale University Graduate Professional, SF Bay Times, Forallevents.com and the Westside Observer. She is a published poet and playwright and proudly serves as Vice President of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact: lbaf23@aol.com
| Production | Mother Road |
|---|---|
| Written by | Octavio Solis |
| Directed by | David Mendizábal |
| Producing Company | Berkeley Repertory Theatre |
| Production Dates | Thru July 21st, 2024 |
| Production Address | 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley CA 94704 |
| Website | www.berkeleyrep.org |
| Telephone | (510) 847-2949 |
| Tickets | Subject to change. |
| Reviewer Score | Max in each category is 5/5 |
| Overall | 4/5 |
| Performance | 4/5 |
| Script | 4/5 |
| Stagecraft | 4/5 |
| Aisle Seat Review Pick? | YES! |