To Kill a Mockingbird

Synopsis

The place is Maycomb, Alabama in the Great Depression years of the 1930s. Momentous events unfold through the eyes of eight year old Scout Finch, growing up in a close knit neighbourhood with her older brother Jem and their summertime visitor Dill. When their father Atticus Finch, a well respected lawyer, mounts a vigorous and compelling case for the defence of Tom Robinson, a poor black man accused of the rape of a young white girl, an idyllic world of childhood is changed forever. Through the drama of the trial and its aftermath comes a searching examination of freedom, justice, honesty and hypocrisy. A compelling, deeply moving story told with warmth and humour.

Our Review:

Veronia Crowley - 28 February 2011

To Kill a Mocking Bird is a ‘Classic’ in the true sense of the word. It is a fascinating study of racial prejudice in the South of America before the Civil Rights era. The story is as powerful today as when the book was first released in 1960.

The narrator, Jean Louise Finch (Scout) played sensitively by Jacqueline Wood and acted convincingly by Grace Rowe lives in a world that is shattered by the distasteful realisation that all consuming racism is rife in her home town of Maycomb. So the story unfolds as Atticus Finch, her lawyer father, understatedly played with pathos and total creditability by Duncan Preston sets about defending a local black man accused of raping a white woman. This flies in the face of the endemic racism in their society and provokes an outrage, which threatens to engulf the whole family. Although, in parts, the play is slow in pace the production is both moving and uncomfortable at times to witness.

In practical terms I find the simpl...

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Latest User Review

Janet Kronberg - 7 March 2011:

I have to admit to being disappointed in this production of my favourite book. I found the minimalist set distracting & unconvincing and many of the characters one-dimensional. The 'Jean Louse, stand up - your father's passing' impact was completely lost due to the staging of that particular moment. However, the court case itself was well staged & gripping, as was the moment when Boo Radley appeared in the nick of time to save Jem & Scout from Bob Ewell's murderous intentions....

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