Adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel, Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel sees racial injustice envelop a small-town community.
Nine-year old Scout’s world is turned upside down when her widowed father, lawyer Atticus Finch, defends a young black man accused of raping a white woman. As tensions erupt and neighbours take sides in the life-and-death case, it is Scout’s clear-eyed courage in the face of ignorance and bigotry that ultimately brings hope to a damaged community.
Set against the backdrop of entrenched prejudices and deep inequality in the segregated world of 1930s Depression-era Alabama, this acclaimed adaptation brings to life the compassion, humanity and childish wonder of Harper Lee’s much-loved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
To Kill a Mockingbird (both Harper Lee’s novel, and the acclaimed film version that followed, with Gregory Peck’s unforgettable performance as Atticus Finch) is unarguably a masterpiece of both literature and cinema.
‘Why’ is easy to answer: “Its message of the importance of tolerance is timeless,” says director Annette Rowlison. “And for that reason, it’s still deeply relevant.”
“With this production I want to open up a dialogue with the audience regarding the very real existence of racism in contemporary Australia through the themes and issues canvassed in the play.”
“Keeping it set in the original time and place (1930s ‘Deep South’ USA) enables those parallels to be made through the prism of geographical space.”
Director: Annette Rowlison Cast: Khadija Ali, Katy Avery, Claudette Clarke, Sarah Carroll, Teagan Croft, Cheyne Fynn, Steve Donelan, Christine Greenough, Lynden Jones, John Keightley, Dave Kirkham, Kai Lewins, Peter Maple, Craig Meneaud, Hudson Musty, David Ross, Donna Sizer, Ryan Whitworth Set Designer: Sasha Sinclair Lighting Designer: Heidi Brosnan Costume Designer: Sarah Chelkowski Sound Designer/Composer: Victor Spiegel
To Kill a Mockingbird
New Theatre, 542 King Street, Newtown
Season: 20 March – 19 April 2014
Bookings: www.newtheatre.org.au
For more information, visit: www.newtheatre.org.au for details.
Image: Lyndon Jones (Atticus Finch) and Craig Meneaud (Tom Robinson) by Bob Seary