THEATER REVIEW: Mockingbird sings a great song
“You never really understand a person ’til you consider things from his point of view.”
So says southern lawyer Atticus Finch to his children, Jem and Scout, in the classic “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
Point of view – that’s what this play is about. Maybe that is why it had to be told by children. When I read Harper Lee’s enchanting tale, I was struck by the truths that spring forth from the candid, unprejudiced minds of children. They can’t seem to understand why people would be racist. Of course, some adults don’t either, but they just don’t think to question it. When Scout asks her father, Atticus, why people are so mean, he pauses and looks as if he’s never been asked that before and replies, “Because that’s the way they are.” That kind of answer never justifies why people treat others differently based on skin color, but what can?
Thursday night, the Utah State Theatre debuted Christopher Sergel’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s widely read novel.
The setting is the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. It is 1935, and Atticus Finch (Bruce Ackerman) is defending black Tom Robinson (Jamie Scruggs), who has been accused of rape and battery. The plaintiff is Mayella Ewell (Jessica Dilley), a white girl who has accused Tom of the hideous crime, and as the trial progresses, her ulterior motives are revealed. All this is seen through the guileless eyes of Scout Finch.
I knew the story well. The novel and the movie had entertained and saddened me, and I hoped it would be portrayed with gentleness and boldness. What I saw was an uncompromising adaptation of this classic book and fine performances by the whole cast. Markay Hassan, Ben Roghaar and Tristan Hills looked like seasoned veterans on stage, and they couldn’t have been more than eight or 10 years of age. I also enjoyed the narration by the adult Scout (Cassandra E. Orr) as she wandered in and out of the sets, sometimes even talking to the characters of her past. It was a little unsettling at first, but they did it without drawing too much attention to it – even with humor at times. The realistic, southern drawl kept the audience in 1930s Alabama. Coupled with the authentic accent is the use of the slang of the era, such as the word “nigger.” This seemed to jar the audience at first, but, as in Mark Twain’s classic “Huck Finn,” it was easy to realize its purpose.
The real power and magic of the story is that it is told from a child’s point-of-view. Children are innocently honest in their observations. They see through adult hypocrisy, racism, and they tell it like it is. They say what they are thinking and can somehow even convey honesty of character even while cooking up a story, as did Dill (who looks like Jonathan Lipnicki of “Jerry Maguire” fame.)
A key theme of “To Kill a Mockingbird” is prejudice. It implies, through characters such as Atticus, that showing empathy a necessary way of defeating discrimination. The children have unfounded fears of recluse neighbor Boo Radley (Jed Broberg), many of the townspeople hate blacks, and even the crabby Mrs. DuBose (Mindy McKinnon) dislikes the children, and insults them as they pass her porch. Ironically, redemption is only found for the children, and I suppose, the audience.
Maybe we’ll never really conquer prejudice until we see it from the other person’s point of view, as Atticus taught his kids. But sometimes we just can’t understand what others go through, as Tom Robinson laments, “If you was black like me, you’d be scared, too.”
Mark LaRocco is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. Comments can be sent to marklarocco@yahoo.com.