"To Kill A Mockingbird" Brings Sold-Out Run to Minneapolis Stage
By Mia Timlin
Most of us are probably familiar with Harper Lee’s 1960 novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It’s a known English-teacher favorite and has claimed the coveted label of “classic.” The story has stamped itself in popular culture and media, enjoying a critically acclaimed movie adaptation just two years after its release, as well as a recent 2018 Broadway stage production. The 50-plus-year gap between the two proves just how influential the story has been in recent American culture.
The play opens with protagonist trio Scout (Melanie Moore), Jem (Justin Mark) and secret show-stealer Dill (Steven Lee Johnson) telling us about the death of Bob Ewell, successfully setting up a storytelling system that dissects the original linear plot of the book and splices court-scene throughout the events of the entire play. Each of the three children are played by adults, which is at moments distracting, but the overall quality of the acting more than made up for it.
Richard Thomas, well known ‘70s sitcom actor and Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” carries the brunt of responsibility in moving the story along, and handles each scene with an effortlessness and confidence that suits the character of Atticus perfectly. Jacqueline Williams’ Calpurnia joins the three children in replacing Atticus as the expected “moral heart” of the story the character has come to be known as, in an interesting swap that leaves Atticus feeling much more flawed and unreliable than he ever did in the novel or film. The appearance of Mary Badham, known for originating the role of Scout in the Gregory Peck film, as Mrs. Henry Dubose is a fun surprise for any fan of the movie, and a feral red-faced performance by Arianna Gayle Stucki’s Mayella Ewell feels piercingly real. The cast is stacked and capable of eliminating any fears of fans of the book that the play won’t do the book justice.
Set on a background of front porches that slide seamlessly in and out from scene to scene, the story of lawyer Atticus Finch defending accused Tom Robinson, a black man, of a crime he didn’t commit unfolds. There were several adjustments made to the storyline in an effort to fit it into the current political climate viewers would be living in, as opposed to the politics of the ‘60s it was originally written amidst. The biggest and most impactful change is without a doubt shifting the center of the story from Scout to Atticus. We no longer see him through the rose-tinted glasses of a grade schooler looking up to her father, but as someone whose constant belief in the inherent goodness of his racist fellow community members is ignorant, naive and quite the opposite of moral.
This opens up the door for Calpurnia and Tom Robinson (Yaegel T. Welch) to become more fully realized characters than they were in the book and movie, and they were given more space to interact with the story itself. While many popular works that tackle topics of racism are being examined for their depiction of the “white savior” trope, the rewrites to the “To Kill a Mockingbird” script strive to circumvent that label, and are in some senses successful. While the story still relies heavily on the idea that Atticus Finch, a white man, is standing up and “saving” a black man, there is more focus on the agency of the two main characters of color, Calpurnia and Tom. There is also the acknowledgment that Atticus’ actions are partially coming from a self-serving place, forcing him to confront his world view.
“To Kill A Mockingbird” ran at the Orpheum in February.
The stage production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” transports a nostalgic relic of literary past and pulls it into a more modern landscape. The performances are compelling and the writing is a great balance of funny and moving. It’s a little on the long side, coming in at a runtime of about two and a half hours, but it keeps its audience engaged the entire time. From the opening cry of “all rise” to the closing one, “To Kill a Mockingbird” delivers a message that feels timely while ending on a hopeful note.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” ran at the Orpheum Theater Feb. 14-19.
