Written by Aaron Sorkin, after Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird
Directed by Bartlett Sher
Review by Dominic Corr
Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ well deserves the outstanding praise it has received. Deeply moving and life affirming, the play manages to retain the essence of the original novel whilst simultaneously showing an important modern relevance through poignant direction from Bartlett Sher. Aided by accurate costume choice, beautiful set design and a mellow acoustic soundtrack, we are enraptured into the plot of a falsely accused black man in the racist deep south of 1933 from the very moment the curtain is raised.
The play manages incredibly well to raise the audience out of their position as a comfortable theatre-goer, and into the understanding of themselves as an active member of a society, whereby racism, misogyny, and wider systemic injustice are all very much alive. A deeply uncomfortable watch, audience members gasped as the first of many racial slurs was uttered by a white man. Yet this was only to progress to an entirely distressing scene whereby a KKK member boasted how the terror group had “no shortage of ropes”, referencing the lynching of non-white Americans. Praise goes to Oscar Pearce as Bob Ewell for portraying this horrific character with such persuasion, and to the incredible acting of Stephen Boxer as Judge Taylor.
If these scenes hadn’t yet slapped you around the face, then the ten seconds of biting silence after stating that the racist US state and legal system are the real “murderers”, would have been sure to do so. Sher’s directional decision to allow the longest pause in the play at a deeply powerful moment was one of profound importance, and shivers were felt along the seated rows. The question we are confronted with is whether to meet injustice with values of respect and empathy, or whether to “fight back” with a revolutionary spirit.
As Richard Coyle as Atticus believes, “violence and strength are not synonyms, but opposites”, whereas Andrea Davy as Calpurnia argues that granting someone respect often means disrespecting another. This is an incredibly important consideration not just for the politically active, but for every person to examine their actions towards those with who they disagree with in this divided world.
The play seems both to question and answer a great deal of the philosophical ponderings of justice, morality, and more widely, what it is to be a human actor in society, with characters of great wisdom uttering timeless one-liners throughout the play. Important truths such as “the things you can’t see are scarier than the things you can” and “a person is smart, but people are dumb” are directed to the audience in perfectly poignant moments, in such a way that is not belittling, but is profoundly clear that these often-repeated phrases are the main takeaways. The characters and flow of the play are perfectly balanced to enshrine these deep truths in a way that never seems cliché.
The play’s hopeful ending: “small armies change the world”; “joy comes in the morning” is reflected in the collective chattering stream out onto the streets of Glasgow following a full house standing ovation. This play is perhaps one of the rare pieces of theatre that grants such a response.
Rare Piece of Theatre
To Kill A Mockingbird runs at The King’s Theatre until October 25th
Running time – Two hours and fifty minutes with one interval
Photo credit: Johan Persson
Review by Libbi Hutton – contact@corrblimey.uk
Libbi is an aspiring journalist and creative based in Glasgow. A graduate of Social Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh, she is particularly interested in politically engaged and experimental arts. Outside of reviewing for Corr Blimey, Libbi spends her free time making music, both in bands and on her own, which has recently developed into a passion for writing an original musical. A lover of all-things-performance, Libbi welcomes the opportunity to indulge in the world of theatre.
