Road Tripping

An interview with the playwright

In 2013, playwright Octavio Solis joined a road trip sponsored by the National Steinbeck Center, which retraced the Joad family’s mythic Route 66 journey from Sallisaw, OK to Bakersfield, CA in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. This literary pilgrimage through the American Southwest along with Steinbeck’s novel served as the inspiration for Mother Road. The Berkeley Rep Artistic staff asked Octavio about this trip, road trips beyond, and his own journey as a legendary figure in Chicano and Americana literature.

What was the most memorable stop on your road trip along Route 66?

The second stop after we arrived in Oklahoma. We drove to Sallisaw, where the local library had prepared for our arrival by decorating the entire library in burlap and old farm implements, posting photos of the Dust Bowl and Depression in the area. They even parked an old Model A truck in front and loaded it up with gear for the long journey west. But the best thing were all the seniors who had survived the era and were ready to be interviewed by us. Over 40 people gave their oral histories. It was very moving.

But the final station of our trip was at Weedpatch itself, which was eye-opening, since the final part of The Grapes of Wrath takes place there, but also since it is still in operation as a federal migrant housing facility. Yet, the most interesting person we met there was Jorge Guillen, who had grown on the camp and had been deeply influenced by the novel. It was his account that led me to the story of my Mother Road.

When you think of Bakersfield, CA and Sallisaw, OK what comes to mind?

I think of these two cities as twin agricultural communities.

If you could take a road trip in any vehicle of your choosing, what would you want to cruise around in?

Definitely an Airstream would be the ideal transportation for a true road trip.

What’s your favorite song to sing on a road trip?

Golden Earring’s “Radar Love”. (…The radio's playin' some forgotten song, Brenda Lee's “Coming On Strong”…)

What’s your favorite road trip story, book, or film?

For me, it was always On the Road, Kerouac’s novel of transformative travel. As far as film is concerned, I have been stirred by Y Tu Mamá También, Easy Rider, and Into the Wild, the Walden of my daughter’s generation.

If you were to take another long road trip, who are the three people you would want to travel with?

I would definitely take a long road trip with my wife Jeanne, the director/actor Marissa Chibás Preston, and my artist friend Cody Bustamante.

Mother Road was inspired by Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Which other literary figures have inspired your work?

I have been nursed on the works of Sam Shepard, who understands the desert like no one else. I am also drawn to the literature of Cormac McCarthy.

What’s the most interesting or unusual spark that has inspired your writing?

María Irene Fornés destroyed my idea of how writing happens and then she opened my eyes to the possibilities of true writing. In a long workshop with her and my colleagues, we were definitely schooled in playing outside the box.

What themes, images, or ideas do you see recurring throughout your work?

My characters are outsiders, people who misbehave, people you don’t want to have over for dinner. These are the people who don’t know the rules and therefore break them with impunity. Love and Death are the two-headed animals in my work; the consummation of one is often the realization of the other.

What do you read or listen to that brings you peace or comfort?

The works of Arvo Pärt are a constant balm on my soul. Even as an atheist, I find solace in all his devotional works. I find a different comfort in the music of Joe Henry, the poet of love and unlove. The poetry of Mary Oliver is at my nightstand when I feel the nightmares looming. So too the poems of Mark Doty.

So much of Mother Road is about the theme of finding home. What are the three things you need to feel at home?

I require books (and music), I require animals, and I require my wife most of all.