John Steinbeck’s 1930s novel The Grapes of Wrath is finding new life in Grande Prairie this month. It’s a stage adaptation that runs through November 30th at Grande Prairie’s new KMSC Law Performing Arts Centre. It’s directed by Gordie Haakstad, and produced by Sarah Card. Both of them, along with many of the other people working on this show, are also part of the community that puts on the Bear Creek Folk Music Festival in Grande Prairie every summer.
The production features an authentic 1934 Dodge Brothers jalopy — loaned from a nearby vintage auto buff; an actual rainstorm onstage every night; and an 80-foot river that runs through the set! Zac Hay — frontman for the renowned Grande Prairie band The Northbloods — is the leader of a trio that’s part of this show, and he also wrote a great deal of original music just for the occasion. CKUA’s own Grant Stovel spoke with Gordie Haakstad, director of The Grapes of Wrath, about this impressive new Peace Country production.