Upon seeing the stage version of To Kill a Mockingbird written by Christopher Sergel and directed by Bo List on December 6th, 2015 at 2:00, I was quite impressed by the young theatre company’s performance. The performance was by no means held in an extravagant theatre, rather a smaller Downtown Arts Center in the heart of Lexington, Kentucky, and I believe this enhanced the performance for the audience.
The set designers had to get crafty with their stage, and it worked out well. Many of the scenes were with a hanging tire swing, and when they wished to take it out of the audience's view, they used a pulley system to haul it away which I thought was crafty. The use of predominantly brown, yellow, and blue lights left the audience with the random-county-in-Alabama vibe, and the spanish moss hanging from the trees and the dilapidated flowers further contributed to the vibe. The courtroom scene had a very simple set that was assembled in the middle another scene that was taking place, but it definitely did its job.
The general storyline of the play was there was Atticus Finch and his family who live in a poor county in Alabama just after the Great Depression, and Atticus is a white lawyer who is defending a wrongfully persecuted black man, Tom Robinson, in the county. Atticus is a wise, respected man in the community who is finally taking a stand against the ridiculous racism of the time. In the end, the jury rules against Tom Robinson, but the audience is left with a bitter-sweet note that although Atticus did not win his trial, he has made leaps and bounds of progress towards ending the overt racism.
I was very impressed by Kevin Crowley’s portrayal of Atticus Finch. He had the perfect amount of dramatism in his voice when discussing the themes and wise ideas in the play, such as to see from other’s perspectives. One idea that Crowley relayed well was that it’s not about those who think they’re right or wrong, but it is about conscience. Another well acted scene is the court scene when Crowley makes the point of Court being the place where Rockefeller and a pauper are equal. Patrick Mitchell and Gabrielle Miller also did a stellar jobs in the courtroom scene playing Tom Robinson and Mayella respectively. Their emotions seemed so real with their anger and crying scenes. Overall, I would say all the actors and actresses did a solid job playing their characters and using impressive, thick southern accents.
I am very glad I went to this performance and it was a relaxing way to spend my Sunday afternoon while leaving me with some thought-provoking Atticus Finch quotes. I would give the play a 4.5/5 stars. Well done and I would highly recommend seeing AthensWest’s rendition.
-Written by Sloan Warner
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