Haunting Set Design for #TheGrapesOfWrath 🎭
Explore Alex Eales' creative process and how the model box transforms into a vital tool for the set design of #TheGrapesOfWrath.

National Theatre
7.5K views • Oct 22, 2025

About this video
Discover the insights of her creative process behind the design for Grapes of Wrath designed by Alex Eales, and how the model box becomes a working tool for the set design.
Stream now The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck with Cherry Jones and Harry Treadaway with on National Theatre at Home https://www.ntathome.com/the-grapes-of-wrath
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Every day we strive to make the world a better place through theatre; entertaining and inspiring audiences around the world, using our creativity, expertise and unique reach.
You’ll find us in theatres. In cinemas. In schools. And online.
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John Steinbeck
Was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception".He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multigeneration epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939)[5] is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon.[6] By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Grapes of Wrath
Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, agricultural industry changes, and bank foreclosures forcing tenant farmers out of work. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they are trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California on the "mother road", along with thousands of other "Okies" seeking jobs, land, dignity, and a future.
The Grapes of Wrath is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes due to its historical context and enduring legacy. A Hollywood film version, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, was released in 1940.
Cherry Jones
American actress. She started her career in theatre as a founding member of the American Repertory Theatre in 1980 before transitioning into film and television. Celebrated for her dynamic roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards, as well as nominations for an Olivier Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Jones made her Broadway debut in the 1987 play Stepping Out. She went on to receive two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play for The Heiress in 1995 and Doubt in 2005. Her other Tony-nominated roles were in Our Country's Good in 1991, A Moon for the Misbegotten in 2000, and The Glass Menagerie in 2014. Her most recent Broadway performance was in The Lifespan of a Fact in 2018.
She is also known for her work on television with breakthrough roles as Barbara Layton in The West Wing and President Allison Taylor in 24, the latter of which won her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2009. She received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Transparent in 2015 and earned two Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her roles in the Hulu drama series The Handmaid's Tale in 2019 and the HBO drama series Succession in 2020.
#Theatre #theatredesign #architecture #modeling #craft #CherryJones #London #NationalTheatre #NationalTheatreLive #NationalTheatreatHome #UK #WestEnd #Grapesofwrath #johnsteinbeck #harrytreadway
Stream now The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck with Cherry Jones and Harry Treadaway with on National Theatre at Home https://www.ntathome.com/the-grapes-of-wrath
--
We believe that great theatre sparks imagination and brings people together.
Every day we strive to make the world a better place through theatre; entertaining and inspiring audiences around the world, using our creativity, expertise and unique reach.
You’ll find us in theatres. In cinemas. In schools. And online.
--
Discover our work: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/
Broadcast to cinemas worldwide: https://www.ntlive.com/
Streaming online: https://www.ntathome.com/
Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/NationalTheatre
National Theatre Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nationaltheatre
National Theatre Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationaltheatre
National Theatre TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nationaltheatre
National Theatre Twitter: https://twitter.com/NationalTheatre
National Theatre Live Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ntlive
National Theatre Live Twitter: https://twitter.com/NTLive
--
John Steinbeck
Was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception".He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multigeneration epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939)[5] is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon.[6] By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Grapes of Wrath
Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, agricultural industry changes, and bank foreclosures forcing tenant farmers out of work. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they are trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California on the "mother road", along with thousands of other "Okies" seeking jobs, land, dignity, and a future.
The Grapes of Wrath is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes due to its historical context and enduring legacy. A Hollywood film version, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford, was released in 1940.
Cherry Jones
American actress. She started her career in theatre as a founding member of the American Repertory Theatre in 1980 before transitioning into film and television. Celebrated for her dynamic roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards, as well as nominations for an Olivier Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Jones made her Broadway debut in the 1987 play Stepping Out. She went on to receive two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play for The Heiress in 1995 and Doubt in 2005. Her other Tony-nominated roles were in Our Country's Good in 1991, A Moon for the Misbegotten in 2000, and The Glass Menagerie in 2014. Her most recent Broadway performance was in The Lifespan of a Fact in 2018.
She is also known for her work on television with breakthrough roles as Barbara Layton in The West Wing and President Allison Taylor in 24, the latter of which won her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2009. She received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Transparent in 2015 and earned two Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her roles in the Hulu drama series The Handmaid's Tale in 2019 and the HBO drama series Succession in 2020.
#Theatre #theatredesign #architecture #modeling #craft #CherryJones #London #NationalTheatre #NationalTheatreLive #NationalTheatreatHome #UK #WestEnd #Grapesofwrath #johnsteinbeck #harrytreadway
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Views
7.5K
Likes
359
Duration
1:00
Published
Oct 22, 2025
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