Grapes Guide.pdf - Minnesota Opera

Ma rests with Granma. The old woman has died, but only Ma knows it.
(12) rest peaceful, mama (ma joad)
The next morning, after passing through an inspection station and reaching the beautiful Tehachapi Valley, the awful truth
is revealed. Ma had promised Granma she’d be buried in a green place.
(13) like they promised (tom, al, then others)
At the Endicott Farm, the scene flashes back to 1849. California settler George Endicott plants his first plum tree. In the
present time, growers inform the Joads that there’s no work there – the crop already has been picked. Another flash to
1924: George Endicott the grandson has become a successful businessman. Back in the present, the locals rally – with
the influx of Okie laborers, their wages have been slashed. Meanwhile, Endicott IV enjoys the finer things in life. Nearby,
plums are being burned – the farm grew too many, and to drive up the price, they destroy the excess, rather than give
them to the hungry croppers.
The Joads continue on, settling in Hooverville, a squalid shanty town by the railroad tracks. A cropper woman tries to trick
Ma out of a few potatoes by pretending a bag of leaves is a starving child. The family is disgusted by their new surroundings
but have little choice at the moment.
(14) hooverville’s anywhere (al, then connie)
Al angrily reproaches his slow-witted brother Noah for being more of a burden than a help. He wants to break off on his
own, but Ma takes charge, insisting the family stay together. Begging a dollar from Ma, Uncle John goes off on a bender.
Connie regrets leaving what little he had in Oklahoma and derides Rosasharn’s hopeless dreams of home and family. He
storms off, never to return.
synopsis and musical excerpts
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