Revolution Arts: Link to music for the start of Grapes of Wrath

Revolution Arts: Link to music for the start of Grapes of Wrath: http://www.tim-baker.com/grapes-of-wrath/audio.html

Revolution Arts: Video clip of the New York production

Revolution Arts: Video clip of the New York production

Reverend Jim Casy

after looking at this character originally and thinking of him as no where near as good as tom Joad is as a character, i have realised now that Casey as a character has far more potential in some ways because Casey can be however i interpret him to be, his description in the play is far less specific than toms, this means that as an actor I could play around with him much more and therefore look at his dialogue more blankly, then acting it how i feel it should be acted rather than playing tom and having to read the lines in a certain way due to there general shortness and the way there written, for this reason i feel that Casey is a character that still has a lot of work to be done to complete him as a character  when performing meaning he will be a more challenging deep and far more rewarding character to play than Tom.

If I get the opportunity to play the character of Jim Casey, i can guarantee I will play his character in a less conventional way, focussing much less on the fact he was a vicar and focussing much more on the fact he now isn't, for this reason I intend to gain character influence from tom hardy's character of Forrest Bondurant in the film Lawless, adapting some of his mannerisms and way of dress to the character of Jim Casey I also intend to get into a work out routine to bulk up for this role as I feel Casey should be quite a big man in order to highlight his dominance as a character. 

first thoughts on grapes of wrath and future aspirations

I am really excited about our performance of grapes of wrath. the script is much longer than what i am used to and the dialogue far more advanced, this gives me the oppertunity to challenge myself and enhance my skills as an actor. I also believe that the characters in this script are far more advanced than the characters that i have performed as before, i feel that because of this i can really spend time understanding and becoming my character far more than i have in previous productions. I intend to method act this piece; providing I get one stable character rather than multiple different characters. the reason i intendend to do this is because I believe that it is the best way to become and understand your character, this means I intend to spend the week leading up to the performance using no modern appliances i.e. mobile phones, TV etc as I feel it will give me an empathy with the character im portraying, furthermore I intend to maintain the accent of my character the the week prior to and the days of the show to make sure it is done to the best of my ability.

Why i want to be tom joad

For out production of "the Grapes Of Wrath" I would like to play Tom Joad, this is because i feel he is a character that I can empathise with yet at the same time I feel he is a complicated character and therefore feel that it will be a nice challenge to have the opportunity to portray him. I have read one of his monologues in the play and am considering using it for my NYT audition piece, for this reason being the character beforehand will mean i know the character well enough to perform the monologue better than if i had never played the character before, also i would know the character well enough to discuss him with confidence in my interview.

dust bowl of the 1930's

The most visible evidence of how dry the 1930s became was the dust storm. Tons of topsoil were blown off barren fields and carried in storm clouds for hundreds of miles. Technically, the driest region of the Plains – southeastern Colorado, southwest Kansas and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas – became known as the Dust Bowl, and many dust storms started there. But the entire region, and eventually the entire country, was affected.

The Dust Bowl got its name after Black Sunday, April 14, 1935. More and more dust storms had been blowing up in the years leading up to that day. In 1932, 14 dust storms were recorded on the Plains. In 1933, there were 38 storms. By 1934, it was estimated that 100 million acres of farmland had lost all or most of the topsoil to the winds. By April 1935, there had been weeks of dust storms, but the cloud that appeared on the horizon that Sunday was the worst. Winds were clocked at 60 mph. Then it hit.
"The impact is like a shovelful of fine sand flung against the face," Avis D. Carlson wrote in a New Republic article. "People caught in their own yards grope for the doorstep. Cars come to a standstill, for no light in the world can penetrate that swirling murk... We live with the dust, eat it, sleep with it, watch it strip us of possessions and the hope of possessions. It is becoming Real."
The day after Black Sunday, an Associated Press reporter used the term "Dust Bowl" for the first time. "Three little words achingly familiar on the Western farmer's tongue, rule life in the dust bowl of the continent – if it rains." The term stuck and was used by radio reporters and writers, in private letters and public speeches.
In the central and northern plains, dust was everywhere.