“To Kill a Mockingbird” a play, based on the novel by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird – based on the novel by Harper Lee

Regent’s Park Open Air – until 13^th September 2014

Actors, each clutching a different edition of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, emerge from the audience and walk up the steps to the open air stage. The actors turn out to be narrators as they take it in turn to read passages from the powerful story of racial injustice. These narrators then use chalk to draw a map of the town of Maycomb on the actual stage, which provides the setting for the story – chalk being an appropriate medium for the dust bowl of Alabama during the depression years.

This tender rendition of such a well known work takes the form of a book reading which is cleverly enhanced by moments of live music (guitar and ukulele) and some fine acting by the leads. The essence of Harper Lee’s quasi memoir is that it is seen through the eyes of a child – Scout who represents the author herself. None of this charm is lost in the play. All fans of the 1962 film will be sceptical that anything can come close to Gregory Peck’s Academy Award winning performance as the lawyer, Atticus Finch, but Daniel Betts delivers a worthy portrayal.

During various parts of the play I successfully contained my emotions (teenage daughter in tow) but the build up was percolating. Towards the end it didn’t matter how many times I had read the book or seen the film because the tears just kept on coming even as the actors took their curtain call.