To Kill a Mockingbird
Congress Theatre, Eastbourne
Until Sat 6th December
Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird
Some books remain on the school curriculum for a reason. Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is one of those novels. It is a story of a small-town lawyer and his children living in the heart of Alabama during the 1930s who are striving to be decent, respectful and just, amidst racial bigotry and injustice.
Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird recently played to packed houses in the West End. It is now on tour around the UK, bringing its hard-hitting themes often uncomfortable to read about let alone watch to local audiences. We popped down to the Congress Theatre in Eastbourne to catch the production.
The play is narrated by Scout (Anna Munden) and Jem (Gabriel Scott) and their new friend Dill (Dylan Malyn), Having the story told through the eyes of children enables the audience to, like the children, freely question the proceedings. The children’s Father, Atticus Finch, (Richard Coyle) has been asked to defend Tom Robinson (Aaron Shosanya) a local black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Despite it being an open and shut case, the white townsfolk, clearly make their views known.
This is an engaging production. The scenes are not chronological but flip between the trial and family dynamics with Miriam Buether’s set gliding between the courthouse, home, the county jail and more. As the trial develops and as we learn more about the characters, we feel a deep empathy for what Atticus stands for. Despite sections of the book being omitted the sense of Atticus’ moral fibre and courage continues to stand out.
Parts of this play are particularly harrowing to watch, the cross examination of the accuser Mayella (Evie Hargreaves) and the accused Robinson, the deep disillusionment of Calpernia (Andrea Davy), the family’s black helper and the racial slurs (the N-word is used to full effect). Throughout all, Atticus guides his children and tells them to respect all as ‘you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.’
Of course, the timing of this play reminds us that though much has changed in the last 100 years, there is still a long way to go and at a time when common values and tolerance are regressed, not only do I think this play is of the utmost importance, it is time to reach for the book once more.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reviewer: Sammi O’Neill
Photo: Johan Persson
Cast
Atticus Finch: Richard Coyle
Scout: Anna Munden
Jem: Gabriel Scott
Dill: Dylan Malyn
Mr Cunningham/Boo Radley: Harry Attwell
Calpernia: Andrea Davy
Judge Taylor: Stephen Boxer
Tom Robinson: Aaron Shosanya
Bob Ewell: Oscar Pearce
Mayella: Evie Hargreaves
Horace Gilmer: Richard Dempsey
Mrs. Dubose: Sarah Finigan
Miss Stephanie / Dill’s Mother: Phillipa Flynn
Sheriff Heck Tate: Colin R Campbell
Link Deas: Simon Hepworth
with Paul Albertson, James Mitchell, Jonathan Rubin, Cheryl Burniston, Charlotte Luxford, Oyin Orija, Tiwai Muza, Tom Brace-Jenkins, and John J. O’Hagan.