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. The production opens Nov. 19 in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall.  

Performances will be Nov. 19-21 and Dec. 3-4 at 7 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees on Nov. 21 and Dec. 5. Tickets go on sale in early October 2026. 

Written by one of the most prominent Latine playwrights, Mother Road received its world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2019. Terminally ill William Joad needs to find an heir to his sprawling Joad ranch in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. He is mortified to find that 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. 

The production coincides with the 100th anniversary of Route 66.

Solis’ rich poetic language complexly engages the challenges of seeking justice in the face of discrimination and the possibility of coming together across difference through a shared relationship to land. The large diverse cast includes a chorus energetically driving the road trip bringing to life past and present moments. 

Directed by Catherine Castellanos, fall 2026 Granada Artist-in-Residence, this powerful story—filled with humor and heart—about land, family and survival inventively reverses the Joads’ mythic journey, as these modern-day Joads travel from migrant farm-worker camps in California back to Oklahoma.

Castellanos, a Bay Area based theatre artist, was involved with California Shakespeare Theatre for nearly 15 seasons as an actor and associate artist performing in nearly 20 productions, working with some of the best guest directors in the nation. She has performed for the company were Queen Margaret, Caliban, Sir Toby, Prospero, to name a few, and was involved in the creation and acted in Octavio Solis’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Pastures of Heaven. From 2016-2022 Castellanos was at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and appeared in world premiers and Shakespeare productions. In 2023, she came back to the Bay Area’s American Conservatory Theatre to perform the titular role in Maria Irene Forbes’ Fefu and Her Friends, directed by Tony award-winning and Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon. Previous to 2023, Castellanos started her relationship with A.C.T. in 2015 with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Between Riverside and Crazy, and was seen as The Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol from 2016-2023.

A company member of the San Francisco’s Campo Santo since 2001, Castellanos has appeared in world premiers and worked closely with the writers. During the residency of acclaimed author/playwright Denis Johnson, Octavio Solis devised, created, wrote and his plays The Ballad of Pancho and Lucy and Bethlehem. Castellanos has directed for Campo Santo, and most recently Luis Alfaro’s The Travelers, which garnered many awards, including the Glickman Award. Upon transferring to Los Angeles, the The LA Times named the play one of the top 10 productions of the year.

Castellanos has taught acting and script analysis at The Jean Shelton Actors Lab for many quarters, and for a couple sessions with Berkeley Repertory School. As an immersive theatre artist, she led the development and directed formerly incarcerated young women out of the San Francisco sheriff’s department. Restorative justice as a theatre artist continued with her participation with acting and collaborating with the incarcerated men in San Quentin.