To Kill A Mockingbird: An Important Show With Room For Improvement

Tyler Quade 

Having been one of the many American schoolchildren who were required to read the book in freshman year of high school, I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into when going to see To Kill a Mockingbird at the Orpheum last tuesday. When I heard the first roar of laughter from the audience, however, I began to doubt my memory of the book. Originally by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird is a story set in the rural south of a black man falsely accused of a heinous crime. The place of comedy in this story came off in poor taste at some places, and my views on it overall are in constant flux. The story is supposed to be from the point of view of the children and that inherently includes having unreliable narrators, but in a stage production where there is little time for moments to set in with the audience, the comedic elements often felt like they detracted from the horror of the main theme. On the other hand, the laissez-faire attitude of the characters gave an idea of how little this all meant to them, and how set these practices were. At the end of the day however, I am not here to analyze the moral implications of the script as a whole. That is something only you can decide. 

The acting overall felt short for me. The accents of the children seemed to have been some kind of amalgamation between southern and Boston? Scout often trailed off at the end of her sentences which could have added some distinction to her lines if she didn’t do it every time. Jem had a similar problem where it seemed like he was almost incapable of adding any emotion or flavor to his voice. It was reminiscent of a bored student who was called on to read in English class. Even Tom Robinson (Yaegel T Welch) had flat delivery, which could have been attributed to his role in the play and the self-restraint he needs in all things. However if the latter was the route the director chose, it could have been made more intentional and less simply boring to watch. The characters that stood out most overall though were Atticus Finch (Richard Thomas), Calpurnia (Dorcas Sowumni), and Mayella Ewell (Arianna Gayle Stucki). Calpurnia's scenes with Atticus especially shone and grabbed the attention of the audience every time. The courtroom crackled with electricity every time Mayella was at the witness stand. The sheer intensity of her performance following the quiet standoffishness of her character added a stunning and impactful contrast. 

    One thing that stuck out the most to me was how empty the stage often was. The set was fairly minimal and there was often a lot of empty space, something that is not necessary for a play without large choreography. Something I would have liked to have seen was a slightly more developed and intricate base set. There was a lot of potential for creative and symbolic uses of a set that had more to work with while still keeping things realistic. The lighting was simple yet effective and accurate. Night and day were able to be understood on the porch and during one scene, a single lamp was turned on that was represented by a single spotlight where it would have lit. 

Overall, I would highly recommend this show to most everyone, especially now with book and content restrictions sweeping the nation. There are, however, multiple instances of anti-semitism not present in the original book as well as liberal use of the N-word, many being said by non-black characters.