Critic’s Pick
The story told in Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is familiar: In a small Alabama town in 1935, a black man is unjustly accused of attacking a young white woman. The likely outcome of his trial is all but predetermined given the town’s prejudices, but the admirable defense mounted by attorney Atticus Finch at least demonstrates the citizens’ hypocrisy. We view much of the story through the impressionable eyes of Scout, Finch’s precociously insightful daughter, her brother Jem and their friend Dill.
Even if you’ve never read the novel, it’s likely you’ve seen scenes from the 1962 film starring Gregory Peck as the virtuous, principled Atticus. But I’m willing to bet you’ve never seen the story told in quite the way Cincinnati Playhouse Associate Artist Eric Ting has shaped this adaptation, using a script adapted by Christopher Sergel. Reminiscent of the modest concept used to stage Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, the show is performed on an all-but-bare stage with no scenery and few props.
But don’t be fooled by Laura Jellinek’s spartan scenic design, which includes a massive black cinderblock back wall, a plain walk-across balcony and steps, a roll-up garage door and two workmanlike industrial doors. It’s deceptively simple in a way that focuses attention on the action, subtly underscored with atmospheric light and shadow (Mark Barton) and barely heard sound (John Gromada). The stage floor has a pair of concentric revolves that Ting has used to choreograph carefully and evocatively the movement of the cast of more than 20 performers.
A few imaginary prompts are offered (Scout scrawls TREE on the roll-up door), but most of the time we must conjure the small-town setting. On the other hand, the citizens are vividly drawn. The cast includes numerous local professional actors — led by Dale Hodges, as Jean Louise late in life, the woman Scout will become, working hard to recall clearly the events of the summer of 1935. As she does, her memories come to life, especially and entertainingly in the form of three kids, her youthful self (Brooke Chamberlin), Jem (Aidan McCracken) and Dill (Ty Joseph Shelton). They question people’s motives and form their own opinions, some naïve and others innocently profound.
John Feltch’s Atticus is not a recreation of Gregory Peck’s masterful cinematic performance. He’s more raffish and loose-limbed, bemused by the children’s observations and questions, always seeking to teach a lesson. His sense of quiet justice and his bemusement at the railroading that makes a mockery of the trial of Tom Robinson (Gabriel Lawrence) add a texture to the story that makes Atticus all the more human. When Rev. Sykes (Ken Early) tells Scout and Jem to pay heed to their father as a great man, you can only agree.
Annie Fitzpatrick plays a shrill neighbor, and Torie Wiggins is the Finches’ stern but loving cook and housekeeper. Jared Joplin is the harsh prosecutor, R. Ward Duffy the conflicted sheriff, Megan Wiles the troublemaking Mayella, and Kevin Cristaldi is Mayella’s bigoted, ignorant father. The production overflows with vivid vignettes of character acting within the context of ensemble performance.
Much of Ting’s production works with both subtlety and power: The revolving floor turns slowly as the trial proceeds, allowing us to see the characters from many angles. The court recess (doubling as a 20-minute intermission) leaves only Mayella onstage to wrestle with her false testimony. When Atticus addresses the jury, he speaks directly to the audience — drawing us into the play’s drama and reminding us how Tom’s unjust treatment remains with us in many contemporary situations. When the prosecutor evokes Tom’s expression of pity for Mayella, recorded gasps from behind the audience amplify our shock at the prejudice being spoken.
To Kill a Mockingbird offers a still-powerful lesson for our time, and this production distills a lesson about justice and dignity that needs to be embedded in our own memories. The Playhouse clearly has a winner with this production. The day before it opened, the demand for tickets was already so strong that the run of the show has been extended to April 10.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, presented by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, has been extended to April 10.
This article appears in Mar 9-16, 2016.
