By Taylor Landau
I’ve only ever cried watching three Broadway shows. One was about teen depression, one was about the aftermath of 9/11, and the last was To Kill a Mockingbird. One of America’s classic novels, the stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird brings new life to the famous story of a lawyer trying to defend a black man’s innocence in the face of Southern racism in the 1930s. I was lucky enough to catch the touring production recently at the Straz Center of the Performing Arts in Tampa, FL, and the production was so moving and so powerful that it left me pondering the story for days.
Spoiler warning for both the novel and play adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee became a staple in literature classrooms around the country for years. I have fond memories of reading it in my 8th grade English class with my very passionate teacher before studying it again in my freshman literature class. As of late, the American classic has been bunched in with the numerous book bans going on around the country, which is a real shame since it’s such a poignant story that still holds relevance today.
The stage adaptation, while mostly faithful to the book, tells the story slightly differently. The novel is told in a very linear fashion with a more grown-up Scout Finch looking back on her life as a child in the order in which the events happened. In the play, Scout begins by immediately telling the audience one of the biggest plot twists that occurs at the end of the show before going back and unraveling the rest of the story. The play is also narrated by all three children: Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill unlike the novel where only Scout tells her story. This works theatrically, though, with all three kids throwing in their input while also being part of the story.
Atticus Finch, who is played by Richard Thomas, is one of the most revered characters in literature. The play has a slightly different take on the character. In the novel, he’s a quiet, good-natured man who does his best to stand up for Tom Robinson, the black man wrongly accused of rape. In the play, Atticus begins as a quieter, meeker man who tries to see the better side of Maycomb, Alabama, before finally cracking in the second act when he realizes how flawed his small town is even in the face of logic and reason.
I cried twice during the show: during Atticus’ closing speech and when Tom Robinson is found guilty. I’m still not entirely sure if it was Thomas’ performance or just the weight of his words, but when he reminded the audience that “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird,” I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. The speech is a passionate plea to the jury not to convict Tom because it was clear as day that he was innocent. He longs to see the good in Maycomb and asks for justice to prevail over their preconceived notions about Tom. Unfortunately, his words fall on deaf ears as the jury sentences Tom to death.
I already knew how the show ended from reading the book myself, but that didn’t make the narrative any less compelling. Thomas’ performance as Atticus was so emotional that it was hard not to get caught up in the show. The way in which he delivered the final speech, pleading and begging the jury to do the right thing, was especially poignant knowing that his words wouldn’t have any effect on the verdict.
Something the show does that was especially interesting was the decision to have an empty jury box. Atticus, along with a variety of other characters in the show, turn to speak to the jury, but there’s nobody there; the space on stage is entirely empty. The staging is meant to represent that it didn’t matter if the jury was even there or not, the trial was always going to end in a guilty verdict. Atticus and company passionately deliver their speeches, but there’s nobody there to even listen. Another haunting aspect of the show I’ll never forget is when the verdict was finally delivered. The three kids stood center stage repeating the word “guilty” 12 times as Tom Robinson and his family’s screams filled the theater.
The staging of the show and brings its artistic value to new heights. Simply delivering the guilty verdict wouldn’t have hit as hard as hearing the children echo the voices of the empty jury sentencing an innocent man to death. I swear there wasn’t a dry eye in the theater. Similarly, Scout delivering the play’s tagline “All Rise” in a booming voice sent shockwaves through the audience in a way I can’t exactly describe. While I can't say I agree with every decision they made in the stage adaptation (like hinting that Atticus may be racist himself), the show was so well-done that this can easily be overlooked. Reimagining the novel on stage brings a fresh new take to the show, it was a brilliant testament to an old classic with themes and storylines that feel like something pulled from the present day and not the 1930s.
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