Circle Players Stages TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Looby Theatre, 3/26-4/10

There is a simple reason why Melissa Williams, director of Circle Players' upcoming production of To Kill a Mockingbird, considers the stage production of Harper Lee's classic novel one of her favorite plays of all time.

"That Atticus was as neat as my dad," she said, referring to Atticus Finch, the lawyer in the story who, despite threats to himself and his family, defends a black man accused of assaulting a white woman in a small town in Alabama. "So many people I know wish that their dad was like that."

Circle Players presents the production Friday, March 26, through Saturday, April 10, at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre. The script closely follows Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year.  

The stage play - like the book - tells the story from the perspective of an adult woman, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, as she narrates the dramatic events in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story of racial injustice and the coming of age of six-year-old Scout as she witnesses the townspeople's prejudice, violence and hypocrisy and her father's quiet struggle for justice.

According to a 2008 survey of students grades 9-12, To Kill a Mockingbird is the most widely read book among high school students. Since its publication, it has been read by more than 30 million people in 40 different languages. The film version, which starred Gregory Peck, premiered in 1962 and won three Oscars and was nominated for five more. In 2009, the "Southern Literature" issue of literary magazine The Oxford American ranked To Kill a Mockingbird one of the 10 best Southern novels of all time.

The cast of 29 features local actors Delany Jacoway as Scout, Elliot Winston Robinson as Tom Robinson, LaToya Gardner as Calpurnia and Clay Hillwig as Atticus Finch.

Hillwig said that when he first read the book in college, it instantly became his all-time favorite, and he admits he was thrilled when his oldest daughter shared that passion for the book after he gave her a copy when she was 12 years old.

"What touches me the most about Atticus is that more than anything, he is a great father. He acts in the same consistent way whether he is at home or in the courtroom. He is a very controlled man. But it's the character's truth and integrity as a father, that's what I find so intriguing about him," Hillwig explained.

The production runs Friday, March 26 through Saturday, April 10. Sho times are 7:30 p.m. (CDT), Thursdays through Saturdays, with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. A special 2 p.m. matinee is scheduled for Saturday, April 3. There is no show on Easter Sunday.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors ages 60 and up; children six and under attend free. All tickets are $10 on Thursdays. Group discounts are also available. Tickets are available online at www.circleplayers.net or by phone (615)-332-7529. Individual tickets are also on sale at the box office at the Looby Theatre one hour before each performance.

Delany Jacoway and Clay Hillwig in Circle Players' To Kill A Mockingbird

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