Star rating - 9/10
I always
get slightly nervous when a much loved book or play is revived. It can either
result in the murder of a classic, or in a fabulous reimagining. And I am very
happy to report that in To Kill a Mockingbird,
the Royal Exchange has a wonderful production on its hands. Director Max
Webster manages to create the same sweltering Southern tension that so thrilled
here last year in Orpheus Descending.
And
whilst there is no star turn this time to rival the stupendous Imogen Stubbs, the
play does not need one, as the whole cast sparkles - without exception.
Harper
Lee's 1960 novel is well known, and indeed a set text for many students and
school pupils still. And the brilliant 1962
film adaptation starring Gregory Peck is hard to dispel from the memory. Peck
played Atticus Finch, the morally upstanding and highly principled lawyer who
shocks his 1930's Alabama community by defending a black man who is accused of
raping a white woman. And at first I
thought that Nigel Cooke might be undercooking the role slightly. But as his fabulous
understated portrait of this brave man emerges, Cooke's nuanced delivery only
adds to its impact.
Atticus knows no other way but to stand up for what he believes
to be right - no matter what the consequences, and he strives to instil these
values into his two children Jem and Scout. Jem is actually the narrator of the
novel, and her narration is very cleverly used here via the voices of other
actors through the piece. Shannon Tarbet is an accomplished young actor, and
gives a spellbinding performance as the feisty young girl.
The courtroom scene is breathtakingly dramatic, with Okeize
Morro and Scarlett Brookes totally convincing as the wrongly accused and false accuser,
both of whose pain is palpable. The sparse dirt set is ingeniously transformed
by the cast using palettes during the action. And these is a wonderful bluegrass band
setting just the right tone as a rich musical backdrop to the action.
It is sad that the themes of racism and prejudice are
still as relevant today as when Lee's masterpiece was penned. And the sometimes misplaced faith in a jury
to come to the right conclusion is oddly poignant when the Vicky Pryce speeding
points legal debacle is still ongoing. So this play is another triumph for my
favourite theatre in the whole wide world - and it makes me very happy when I
am able to say that.
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