以下は、新見公立短期大学人文科学学会(当時)の『人文学論叢』第2巻(2004年3月)に発表したものである。
On a Play Version of Frank Galati’s The Grapes of Wrath
Kiyoshi YAMAUCHI
アメリカ文学
フランク・ギャラティ脚本の演劇版『怒りの葡萄』について
山内 圭
ジョン・スタインベック原作の『怒りの葡萄』がフランク・ギャラティにより脚本化され、アメリカ国内ばかりか、世界各地で上演されている。日本でもジョン・ディロン演出により劇団昴による上演があった。本稿では、劇団昴の上演を中心に述べ、ギャラティ脚本の上演史についても述べる。
Subaru Theatrical Company performed The Grapes of Wrath from October 17 to November 8, 2000 at the 300-Seat Theater (Sanbyakunin Gekijo) in Tokyo. The author saw the performance on Thursday, October 26. The curtain was raised at 2:00 pm. Even though it was a weekday, it was almost a full house.
The performance of the company was based on Frank Galati’s play script, and directed by its visiting director, John Dillon. The casting was as follows: Mitsuru Miyamoto played the role of Tom Joad, Tamie Kubota played the part of Ma Joad, and Yoshito Ishinami was Pa Joad. Jim Casey was played by Hiroyuki Nishimoto, Rose of Sharon was performed by Maki Tamura, and Ruthie was by Reina Makino. (Mr.) Aiko Ogata played several parts including that of Noah. All the actors and actresses performed their roles very well, but the most impressive one was Miss Makino as Ruthie. According to the pamphlet of this play, this was her first stage appearance. She played the silent role (with only four lines) with graceful expressions and movements. Ms. Kubota, slender as she is, played the role of Ma powerfully. Mr. Ogata played the part of “Boss” in the revival of Of Mice and Men by the Haiyuza Theatre Company in September 1995. (Its first performance was in October, 1994.) He played at that time under the name of Yoshihiro Okada. Kahoru Kurokawa, the fiddler, spiced the stage with her skillful performance of the fiddle.
Director Mr. Dillon worked as Artistic Director for Milwaukee Repertory Theater from 1976 to 1993. He has also directed local theatrical companies in more than 25 cities across the United States. For Subaru Theatrical Company, he has directed Death of a Salesman and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Before the opening of The Grapes of Wrath, he appeared in interview programs of NHK Radio English Conversation on September 23 and 30, 2000 (NHK Radio English Conversation Textbook, September, 2000. pp.50-52, 66-68). He said, “I think that the ultimate test of what makes a classic a classic is does it communicate across borders, is there common humanity and my bet is there is a common humanity that peace depends on understanding that all people have the same aspirations.” According to the pamphlet, Mr. Dillon is a college friend of Mr. Galati, the playwright.
As the author also reviewed John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath Play Script by Frank Galati, eds. with Notes by Kiyoshi Nakayama and Hiromasa Takamura, Eichosha Publishing Company (Steinbeck Studies Volume 19, May 1996, pp.35-36), the author has intensively read Galati’s script many times. This performance realized the play script in Japanese, which the author has read many times. The translation was done by Koji Numasawa, Director of The Institute of Dramatic Arts and Professor at University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo. The translated script was sold for 1,000 yen as a ready-made acting copy with each line numbered and a practice schedule chart at the end of the book. Sitting behind him, the author found a group of high school students and, judging from the conversation among them, understood them to be members of drama club from a high school in Saitama Prefecture. With the sales of this acting copy, drama clubs of high school students, college students or citizens can easily get the script. The author hopes that Galati’s script of The Grapes of Wrath will be played by and large in the near future. The author assumed that those high school students saw the play for their improvement of acting, but he hopes some students have found this Steinbeck’s work interesting and try to read the novel in the translation or even in the original.
The author has seen a videotaped musical of East of Eden played by Takarazuka Revue Company. According to Dr. Takamura’s review of the musical (The John Steinbeck Society Newsletter No. 20, November 5, 1995 pp.7-8), it was under restriction from Elaine Steinbeck, John’s widow. The author found the musical almost identical to the 1955 film version. Comparatively, Galati’s The Grapes of Wrath is different from the 1939 film version in many ways. The biggest difference between the two is, the author assumes, that the Galati’s version did not omit the last scene where Rose of Sharon tries to give milk to the stranger as the movie did. If we take account of controversy over its last scene then, John Ford might have been right in excluding the controversial last scene from his film. However, if we compare the film with the original novel, we have to say that the film fails to convey the underlying message that human beings keep living without that last scene. In that sense, this play version based on Galati’s play script with the last scene could convey the message much better than the film which is often called a masterpiece. By the way, a boy is with the starving man in the original novel and Galati’s script; this play had a girl playing the role for unknown reason. Since John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is more than sixty years old now, and it is now one of the classic masterpieces, we are expecting another filming of this novel as well as Galati’s play version of this novel. In Japan, when movie director, Kon Ichikawa directed Harp in Burma, written by Michio Takeyama in 1956, he could not express redness of the soil in Burma (now Myanmar) in his black-and-white film. He again filmed the same title in Technicolor in 1985. If Ford were still alive, we would like him to film The Grapes of Wrath again, but we would like to wait for another film director to film the Galati’s script clearly showing the sand color of the Dust Bowl and beautiful greenness in California. If a reader is interested in getting the film script of The Grapes of Wrath, he or she can get the one the author dictated as part of the film script project done by The Association for Teaching English through Movies at: http://www.screenplay.co.jp/pd_database/database/grapesofwrath.html . The author will not get into a comparison between the movie script and play script here, but he is going to do the comparison on another occasion.
According to Dr. Takamura’s review of the play of The Grapes of Wrath performed by the Mingei Theatre Company (The John Steinbeck Society of Japan News from the Office No. 18, p.8 November 10, 1994), the Mingei Theatre Company put the river plot at the back of the stage, while Steppenwolf Theatre in New York put its river at the front of the stage. On this stage the river is in front. What surprised us most was that the river was a hole into which the body of Grampa was buried in an earlier part of the play. We did not see or hear any water when his body was buried, but at the scene of the Colorado River, it has become a river filled with water, and at the flood scene, it represented flooding water. It is a little sad to say that it was a still water, and I must point out that the box did not flow down when Uncle John released the box with the stillborn baby of Rose in it.
Galati’s script was originally written for Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 1988. It won the Tony Award for the Best Play and Mr. Galati won the Best Director Award in 1990. Mr. Galati and his play won Joe A. Callaway Award for excellence in the craft of direction and choreography in the same year. Since then, this play has been highly regarded, and it has been played all over the United States, in Canada, and even in Europe. As far as the author knows, professional performances include the Repertory Theatre in New York (1995-96), The Actor’s Group in Herberger Theatre in Phoenix (1996), Lenoir-Rhyne Playmakers Productions (1997-98), Arden Theater Company in Philadelphia (1998), The Alliance Theatre in Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta (1999), Fort Worth Theatre in Dallas (1999), The American Drama Group Europe’s European on-the-road performance in Luxemburg, Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Czech, Spain and Sweden(1999-2000), and Theater Works in Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in 2000.
College performances include the Los Angeles City College (1992), California State University (1993), University of Kansas (1994), Iowa State University (1994), Temple University (1996), Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon (1996), Montclair State University in New Jersey (1996), San Jose State University (1996), Pace University (1997), University of Hawaii (1997), Georgia State University (1997), Grayson College (1997), University of North Dakota (1998), Wabash College (1998), and the University of Alberta in Canada (1998) played The Grapes of Wrath. Also, in 1999, University of Michigan-Flint in Michigan, Greenville College in Illinois, Hartnell College in Salinas, Western Oregon University, DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois and University of Cincinnati in Ohio performed Galati’s script. In 2000, University of Saskatchewan in Canada, Illinois State University, Western Michigan University and University of Alaska Anchorage performed the play.
Galati’s script continued to be performed into the new century, and in 2001, Oswego State University, Contemporary American Theatre Company in Columbus, Ohio, Des Plaines Theatre Guild at Bog Theatre in Chicago, University of Missouri-Kansas City and The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island played Galati’s The Grapes of Wrath. In the year 2002, Kenneesaw State University, Georgia, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and The West Coast Ensemble, Hollywood performed the play. Also in 2003, The Knox College and Prairie Players Civic Theater (co-production), Galesburg, Illinois, Norman High School, Norman, Oklahoma, University of Rochester, New York and University of Arkansas had performances. Then, in 2004, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina performed the play.
Back in 2003, John Dillon directed Subaru Theatrical Company’s The Grapes of Wrath again at Sunshine Theater in Ikebukuro, Tokyo and other places in Japan. Since the author wrote the play review for the earlier performance (The John Steinbeck Society of Japan Newsletter No. 30, December 15, 2000), he has corresponded with the director, John Dillon. Mr. Dillon, in one of his email messages to the author (June 11, 2003), wrote, “I forgot to tell you that we have a small and secret homage to Steinbeck that appears briefly on the scenery late in act two. I wonder if you will be able to find it?” They had this homage because the previous year, 2002 was the centennial year of John Steinbeck’s birth. The author was wondering what the homage was, and he found that “1902 F 27” was written on the boxcar in the boxcar camp. This means his date of birth “February 27, 1902.”
The author believes that Galati’s The Grapes of Wrath will continue to be performed. Takashi Hashimoto, Professor Emeritus of Utsunomiya University, who is from Niimi, is a councilor of Subaru Theatrical Company. The author has heard that he mentioned the possibility of the performance of The Grapes of Wrath in Niimi. The author hopes for the realization.
