Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic To Kill a Mockingbird comes to Broadway for the first time in a new adaptation by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Bartlett Sher.
This new interpretation of the beloved, iconic American story retells the story of one of literature's towering symbols of integrity and righteousness, Atticus Finch, in a way made even more poignant for today. Told by Atticus' daughter Scout, based on herself, we see a world of pain and inequity through the eyes youthful innocence.
If Sorkin's adaptation lacks the subtlety and plain-spokenness of Lee's novel, it has moments of old-fashioned power-the playwright knows how to set up a court scene-and others of surprising tenderness, as when he briefly takes the fatherless Dill under his wing. ('You have no business being kind, but there you are,' he tells the boy.) As perhaps befits material that has been a high-school mainstay for decades, this To Kill a Mockingbird has many teachable moments, perhaps a few too many. But it does-and I mean this as a compliment-a very decent job.
Christopher Sergel's workmanlike 1991 stage adaptation of 'Mockingbird,' a regional-theater staple that I saw done three years ago by Florida's Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, is both truer to the book and far more dramatically effective. Moreover, that company's small-scale staging, sensitively directed by Thomas Ouellette, was superior in every way to Bartlett Sher's overblown, over-designed Broadway version, which is devoid of credible local color (hardly anybody on stage acts or sounds as if they've ever traveled much farther south than Cleveland). Mr. Daniels, a fine actor whom I suspect has been disserved by his director, paints Atticus with the coarsest of brushes, though the sad truth is that save for Adam Guettel's homespun incidental music and a handful of strong performances, most notably by Mr. Akinnagbe and Dakin Matthews, who plays the judge, nothing about this 'Mockingbird' is any good at all. Shame on Harper Lee's estate for letting it happen.
2020 | US Tour |
First National Tour US Tour |
2021 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2022 | West End |
Original West End Production West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Celia Keenan-Bolger |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jeff Daniels |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Celia Keenan-Bolger |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | To Kill a Mockingbird |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Bartlett Sher |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Celia Keenan-Bolger |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | To Kill a Mockingbird |
2019 | Theatre World Awards | Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance | Gbenga Akinnagbe |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Ann Roth |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Bartlett Sher |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jennifer Tipton |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Adam Guettel |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Gideon Glick |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Jeff Daniels |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Celia Keenan-Bolger |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Miriam Buether |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Scott Lehrer |
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