Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” has earned a secure place in the literary canon since its publication in 1960 and winning of the Pulitzer Prize that year. The Milwaukee Rep’s adaptation, which opened last weekend on their Quadracci Pavillion stage, may change the story’s point of view, but it’s no less an authentic look into both a troubling period of American history and the coming-of-age of a young girl in the American South.
The play refocuses the narrative heft of the story onto Jean Louise Finch (Deborah Staples), better known as Scout, the book’s protagonist. Staples’ adult Scout drifts in and out of the play’s action, recounting her memory of a fateful year in Maycomb, Ala.
Scout (Mallorey Wallace) and her brother Jem (John Brotherhood) are the children of Atticus Finch (Lee E. Ernst), an intelligent lawyer who jeopardizes his family’s safety and reputation when hired to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman.
Aaron Posner directed the production, strategically using the ensemble and child actors to deliver the story’s sentimental yet heart-wrenching plot. In an interview with the Rep, Posner admitted the challenges of telling a well-known story, especially one that has been remade into a movie and is the subject of analysis in most high school classrooms.
“We’re live in the room and can make a direct connection to the audience,” Posner said in the interview. “We can use the power of a group dynamic and of an ensemble.”
Such power was seen when Scout, Jem and their friend Dill (Thomas Kindler) challenge their braveness and try knocking on Arthur “Boo” Radley’s door. The ensemble heightened the anticipation of the audience, as it waited for the reclusive neighbor’s reaction to the children’s prank. The townspeople nearly jumped into the audience members’ laps at the sound of Jem running off Radley’s porch.
But woven through the naïve innocence of the children is a social commentary of the 1930s’ racially discriminating Jim Crow Laws, most notably seen in the trial against Tom Robinson. Audience members were addressed like spectators in the court, witnessing the wrongful testimony against Robinson. In his earnestness, Atticus Finch projected his closing remarks to us, telling viewers to, “in the name of God, believe him (Robinson)!”
But Robinson was found guilty. And a solemn shade of gray and orange came over the audience as black spectators in the courtroom sang, “Moses, Moses take my hand. Take us to the promised land.”
The unjust verdict of the trial disturbed the three children – who, against their live-in cook’s Calpurnia’s (Ora Jones) wishes – snuck into the courtroom. Their doe-eyed presence further contrasted innocence with guilt and made Robinson’s imprisonment an even greater travesty for the audience.
It was easy to see the adult version of Jean Louise Finch wrestle with her childhood memory. The charismatic and colorful narrator seamlessly inserted herself into select memories, standing in as the tree in Radley’s yard, or as the beloved neighbor, Miss Stephanie, who is always gardening.
It is the narrator who closes the two-and-a-half hour play. As the lights turn to black, Jean Louise leans over and hugs her childhood self. The narrator’s final act shows her appreciation of the memory – no matter how unjust – and gives closure to a hopeful audience.