Octavio Solis Reveals Mother Lode of Mexico-US Family

by Mary Lou Herlihy and Barry David Horwitz

From a CraigsList ad reading: “All Joads come home. Riches beyond your wildest dreams,” surfaces Martín Jodes with his Spanish version of the name Joad. The young Mexican American drifter is facing the adventure of his life, finding a new father and family.

Martín (pronounced “Marteen”) is played by Emilio Garcia-Sanchez with flair and conviction. Martín convinces William Joad (powerful James Carpenter), the suspicious old ‘honkey’ looking to deed his land to kin, that he is “worthy.” Together, they begin their journey, along the Mother Road, in Martín’s green beater named Cesar—after Cesar Chavez.

Cesar, a truncated Ranchero on a turntable, drives cross country with a motley crew—taking the reverse journey of the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath. Lights suggest passing cars, passing time. Barn-like structures shape shift as towns pass, with a beautifully synched Greco-Mexican Chorus urging them on. Overloaded with issues, the production encounters a few bumps and stalls.

Two cultures are at war—it’s an Odyssey between two countries, Homeric in its scope. Can the two cultures reconcile, or are they doomed to discord? Is it time for reparations and reconciliation, at last? Who owns these ancestral lands?

Parallels between Grapes of Wrath and “Mother Road” stack up like so many miles along Route 66. Reversing the east to west journey taken by Steinbeck’s fictional Joad family, William and Martín leave from Bakersfield bound for Sallisaw, Oklahoma. We hold our breaths as they run into racism, revenge, and retribution.

Gorgeous,saturated red, blue, pink, yellow skies contrast with the muted earth tones of the chorus. The phrase “Dale gas, dale gas,” which means GO ON, repeats and repeats. It’s needlessly sung again by a trio at the opening of Act II.

Martín chooses his ‘cousin’ Mo (lively Lindsay Rico) to join them on the journey. While she adds a humorous social media obsessed presence, the trope of fast talking, irreverent gay/lesbian sidekick, seems a bit worn.

But Mo has essential knowledge of organic farming, and she’ll be Martín’s “forewoman.” Mo explains, “What water’s left is so poisoned with fertilizers and pesticides, it ain’t healthy for crops or any living thing.” Martin’s Mom, who is always with him, died of cancer due to exposure to pesticides. The mothers and their ghosts remind us, touchingly, of loves lost.

William feels vindicated in preserving his Oklahoma farmland: “…the California your Daddy dreamed of is going through a drought that’ll spawn a bigger dust bowl than anything our fathers lived through.” Thought provoking. True. Terrifying.

Traveling companion James (charming Branden Davon Linsay), added to the trip after Martín goes MIA, brings another view of the land. He’s long given up on religion and sees heaven on earth in Mother Nature’s apple blossoms, trees, and even at the DMV!

Director David Mendizábal, and designer Tanya Orellana heighten the spectacle to suggest an epic journey. So many themes resonate—police brutality, racism, blurring of past and present.

Solis’ epic quest for reconciliation between Mexican workers and American owners spills over the structure of ordinary theater, challenging us to follow their noble journey.

“Mother Road” by Octavio Solis, directed by David Mendizábal, scenic design by Tanya Orellana, costume design by Rodrigo Muñoz, lighting by Cha See, sound by Jake Rodriguez, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, California. Info: berkeleyrep.org – to July 21, 2024.

Cast: Cher Álvarez, James Carpenter, Daniel Duque-Estrada, Emilio Garcia-Sanchez, Branden Davon Lindsay, Michael Moreland Milligan, Lindsay Rico, Benny Wayne Sully, and Courtney Walsh.

Banner photo: The cast of “Mother Road.” Photos: Kevin Berne