To Kill a Mockingbird

By Robert Iles - 4th Oct 2004

From our first sight of the citizens of Maycomb going about their business in the sweltering heat of an Alabama summer in the 1930s, right through to the ensemble gospel song which draws the company together after the end of the action, this show holds the audience spellbound. This now classic story of man’s prejudice against man, unfolds almost languidly as the characters and situations are introduced. We meet Scout and Jem Finch, the children through whose eyes the story is seen, and who struggle to understand the irrationality of the adult world. Gradually the tensions in the small town build until in Act 2 we see the trial of the negro Tom Robinson (a strong performance from Lincoln James) – clearly innocent of the rape of a white girl of which he is accused, but destined to hang because these small-minded people cannot bring themselves to believe a black man’s word against that of a white man.

Central to the success of this production is the quietly authoritative and immensely attractive portrayal of defence lawyer Atticus Finch by Toby Longworth. This calm, centred character is a personification of integrity and Longworth holds the audience in the palm of his hand. His relationship with his two children is at the heart of the play, and here my only doubts entered. Undoubtedly the adult actors playing the three children had, by the dramatic ending, made us forget that they were adults playing children, but at first this was only too apparent. The task is to play the truth of the characters of the children, rather than trying to convince us that these fully grown bodies are 6,7 and 10 years old respectively. Having said which, Lorraine Stanley as Scout built a wonderful relationship with her father. Their spontaneous hugs were touching. Colin Kilbride (Jem) and Tony Casement (Dill) were at ease with the children they played by the end of Act 1.

The cut-away set was impressive, built out into the audience on a slant so that the whole set seemed to reach out and draw us into its world. There was excellent use of the whole depth of this stage with the gauze behind which the Radley house loomed excitingly and effectively lit in both blue skied afternoon sunshine and more disturbing night-time moon, clouds and shadow. Perhaps the boards of Maycomb should have been more run-down and less clean – but the paleness of the boards did give a shining heat to the lighting.

Adrian Stokes’ finely judged direction created a whole town of believable characters before our eyes, and the use of Miss Maudie as a narrator was easily and sensitively effected by Christine Absalom, a Colchester favourite in whose hands we felt safe.

Most effective, to me, was the way in which we were implicated in the small-town prejudice depicted – the audience were used as the jury in the trial scene, Some of the sentiments uttered by Bob Ewell with regard to black people sounded remarkably familiar to those expressed recently by our own community about travellers or gypsies, or asylum-seekers.

Sheila Foster