ZACH Theatre – An Austin Theatre Blog

A lot of people don’t realize that ZACH Theatre employs literally hundreds of contractors, artists, designers and crew members to bring our various directors’ dreams to fruition on stage. This week at ZACH, a truck pulled up to the theatre with tons of steel in its cargo for the LOVE, JANIS set (FYI: it’s really heavy, man.) At the same time, the dusty stage for THE GRAPES OF WRATH was being tore down as stage crew walked around with surgical masks, pulling down gigantic scafoldings, muddling through the dust and working together to at once deconstruct and stage the theatre for ZACH’s Summer of Love.

Sidney Pan, ZACH’s gifts manager, pulled out her camera and sent me these pictures of ZACH’s tear-down/construction process — it’s a good thing, too, because it happens so fast that without a keen camera eye it might look like magic … trust us, it’s not:

GRAPES OF WRATH stage begins tear down.

Huge Panels + Tiny Humans = Teamwork Required!

You'll be glad to know: ZACH Theatre recycles.

The LOVE, JANIS set arrives ...

ZACH's construction crew unloads the steel for LOVE, JANIS.

We’re documenting the whole process as LOVE, JANIS takes over ZACH for the Summer of Love, so check our blog often for updates and special offers … like: The theatre announced today that $20 early-bird tickets to LOVE, JANIS are being sold for the first Thursday, Friday and Sunday performances, but the offer is on a first-come, first-serve basis for phone orders only: (512) 476-0541, x1.

There are only 2 performances left: THE GRAPES OF WRATH closes tomorrow.

Last night, the cast played to a sold out crowd on ZACH’s intimate Kleberg Stage, and the audience was, once again, simply blown away by the artistry and music from this must-see production. Check out the video put together from the show:

If the video does not load automatically, please click here.

There are still seats open for the final 2 performances, at 7:30 today and Saturday. Please contact our box office at (512) 476-0541, x1 to reserve your seat.

Video by Seabrook Jones

Stocks plummet, jobs are lost, a million publications report the bad news. But leave it to Austin to address current economic hardship with a wonderfully crafted, epic performance of John Steinbeck’s THE GRAPES OF WRATH.

For many Austinites, it doesn’t take a newspaper to tell them that times are rough. Talking with their families about job loss and this generation’s financial struggles, however, might require a different, more relatable teaching tool. ZACH Theatre began its timely production of THE GRAPES OF WRATH for precisely this reason.

“I had some sense that economically we weren’t going to be in the same position as a nation that we were in last year,” Dave Steakley, ZACH’s artistic director, said about adding THE GRAPES OF WRATH to 2009’s production schedule. “We always experience economic change during the year of a Presidential election of some kind,” he said, “although I didn’t know we would find ourselves in a set of circumstances that would begin to mirror what Americans were experiencing in the 1930’s.”

THE GRAPES OF WRATH tells the story of the Joad family amidst the backdrop of 1930’s America. The Joads didn’t envision America’s bread basket suddenly turning into a dust bowl, and during their trip from their dust-covered farm in Oklahoma to California the Joad’s 11-member family dwindles to only four members in the final scene.

Family is at the heart of THE GRAPES OF WRATH production. Audience members will find themselves inspired by the sacrifice, charity and ultimate redemption of the Joad family’s journey that celebrates family, determination, love and hope.

If nothing else, THE GRAPES OF WRATH will provide families with a way to talk about tough times with teenagers and young adults who might be experiencing a financial downturn for the first time in their lives.

THE GRAPES OF WRATH begins tomorrow and plays through May 10 on ZACH’s Kleberg Stage. Tickets are available online.