To Kill A Mockingbird
Broadway in Chicago has brought to the Nederlander Theatre the hit Broadway play To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the best-selling book by Harper Lee, and it's one of the most provocative and profound masterpieces to hit Chicago Theaters in a long time. Directed by Bartlett Sher, Aaron Sorkin's 2018 play based on Harper Lee's classic novel of small-town lawyer Atticus Finch in 1930s Alabama, who defends Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape. Lee's original novel, which centers around racism, hatred, and social justice, also tells a story of the loss of innocence and single parenting and asks where's our moral decency and our willingness to meet its obligation.
“It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.”
Narrated by Atticus, children Scout, Jem, and their summer-time friend, Dill, we learn of Tom Robinson's plight of being accused of rape by a white woman who tried to coerce him into a forbidden sexual encounter. The play, which varies from the book, has Atticus as the protagonist, not his daughter Scout. Still, the cast of characters was retained, including caretaker Calpurnia the reclusive Arthur "Boo" Radley, Prosecutor Horace Gilmer, Judge Taylor and Mayella Ewell, Sheriff Heck Tate, Link Deas, residents of Maycomb, Alabama. Notably missing was the quintessential jury of all white men. There were concerns that the play varied too far from the book, and a complaint was filed in an Alabama federal court in March 2018.
Concerned that Sorkin's making Atticus the main character and not Scout, however, similar to the book, lawyers were involved. Finally, an agreement was reached between the two parties, thus allowing the production to proceed, with Scout ending the performance like the main character.
The three actors, Melanie Moore, Justin Mark, and Steven Lee Johnson, are incredible in their execution as storytellers that took them back to their childhood. This version differs from the original book narrative, where only Scout recounts events from her childhood. Still, I liked the more lighthearted interpretation of the story, bringing humor into this dark poetic drama without losing its central message. It was also great to see the multi-talented and award winner Jacqueline Williams bring another level to the role of Calpurnia, playing it to perfection.
In the 2018 theatrical production, Jeff Daniels starred as Atticus Finch, the role made famous by Gregory Peck. Richard Thomas, better known for his role as John-Boy on the 1970s TV series The Waltons, is phenomenal in portraying the iconic role of small-town lawyer Atticus Finch. However, Thomas is no stranger to rape and racism, playing John-Boy from Waltons Mountain when standing accused of rape. In addition, he has played the role of Charles Strickland, a man who is racially charged with a sex crime in David Mamet Broadway "Race," starring James Spader, David Alan Grier, and Kerry Washington. One distinctive part in the play of Mockingbird is when Thomas looks directly at the audience as if he is directing his frustration with the hatred that continues to permeate our society, which was thoroughly outstanding but seemed to be overlooked by most of the audience.
We even learn of the town drunk, brilliantly portrayed by Anthony Natale, an interracial relationship that cost him his child and wife. The town drunk said these profound words, "that we see cruelty and we all through time become use to it." This, unfortunately, seems to be true of most, but never for me. There is a remnant of people like me that will never get used to cruelty.
I have one blemish with the play and the book is its desire to use the N-word, which is used in the original novel 48 times. With all of the racial tension occurring globally, and with the recent shooting of blacks in Buffalo, a California church, and the senseless killing happening in Ukraine, it's disturbing to see that the theater hasn't been proactive in removing inflammatory racial epithets from theatrical renditions. I was appalled to hear the N-word used over a dozen times. This ugly and insidious word is unacceptable, especially in a predominately all-white audience that might proceed this as acceptance to commit more egregious acts of violence. The theater has always been a platform of social justice before social media. It should take the lead in removing hateful vocabulary from all theatrical performances regardless of its historical reference.
We can still be a powerful voice for injustice without being closed-minded to the arrogance of our past failures. It's one of the incendiary words that should not be uttered from the mouths of anyone, regardless of ethnicity. Will this approach eradicate this word from society and bring a sense of humanity that hateful speech is unacceptable? My quick reply is no; however, it's our responsibility to extract detestable ugliest by continuously informing those in society that this verbiage is a strain on the greatest of America.
In the end, Atticus proved Tom's innocence, but the jury, which only deliberated for thirty-seven minutes, still found him guilty.
“ When it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins.”
Atticus receives a call informing him that Tom presumably tried to escape and was killed.
The novel paints Atticus Finch as the moral hero and the model of integrity; however, he conspires with the same injustice he fought against when Bob Ewell attacked Atticus's son, the girl's father, who accused Tom. Bob was killed by Boo Radley, who defended Jem, and they falsified evidence. The real hero is Tom Robinson. A black man who knew that even being near a white woman could surely end his life died because he had integrity and felt sorry for her father's treatment (who sodomized her).
We hear the phrase, "Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird," signifying to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Still, the question is not if we can destroy innocence, but how do we destroy what destroys our innocence.
With that said, To Kill A Mockingbird is loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors, and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten; was an exhilarating and an exceptional work of theater.
Let's Play Theatrical Review Highly Recommends this play.
James M. Nederlander Theatre
To Kill A Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
A New Play by Aaron Sorkin
Directed By Bartlett Sher
May 17 - 29, 2022
