Inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Octavio Solis’s provocative drama Mother Road finds a hardworking surviving member of the Joad family seeking kin to inherit the family farm. The Department of Theatre and Dance presents this “sequel” to the American classic as the opening production of the 2026-2027 season. 

Terminally ill William Joad is trying to find an heir for the Joad ranch in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. He locates the only surviving descendant of Tom Joad who came to California with the “Okie” migration in the 1930’s is a young Mexican American named Martin. Together, they ride the Mother Road (Route 66) from Bakersfield to Oklahoma and forge the new character of the nation inside each other and in the people, they encounter along the way.