To Kill A Mockingbird - Review

Wyndham's Theatre, London

****

Written by Aaron Sorkin

From the novel by Harper Lee

Directed by Bartlett Sher

Richard Coyle

Bartlett Sher’s stunning revival of Harper Lee’s classic fable returns to the West End for a 12-week residency at the Wyndham’s.

Set in Alabama in the 1930s, in America’s segregated and highly prejudiced Deep South, Lee’s tale is one of oppression, racism and resentment, contrasted with a heroic stance on enlightened and principled legal thinking fused with compassion and the finest family values.

This site rarely seeks to draw comparisons but Richard Coyle’s performance as Atticus Finch demands one. Gregory Peck’s Oscar-winning take on the role (in Robert Mulligan’s 1952 movie) has been defined as one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema. In a performance of breathtaking resonance and character, Richard Coyle redefines Finch, more than matching Peck’s genius. Returning to the role that he created in the production’s original London iteration, Coyle captures Finch’s complex morality and kindness in a performance that is perfectly weighted and nuanced, delivering arguably the greatest transition of an iconic character from screen to stage. For Coyle’s performance alone, one should buy a ticket. 

Sher's work on a London stage has never been so assured or perfectly pitched, where he has assembled a formidably flawless company. As the narrator / Greek chorus of the piece, Anna Munden is Finch’s adolescent daughter Scout. Together with her brother Jim (Gabriel Scott) and their friend Dill  (Dylan Malyn in an extraordinarily brilliant stage debut), the three teenagers serve to advance the evening's litany of cruel injustices, be they social as well as racial.

The cast boasts other supporting gems. Aaron Shosanya is magnificent as Tom Robinson, a black cotton-worker falsely accused of raping the white Mayella Ewell (Evie Hargeaves). Hargreaves similarly masters her challenging role, capturing the impact of the abuse and neglect that she has been subject to by her father Bob (Oscar Pearce playing a despicably ignorant redneck, in a performance that is as brilliant as his character is evil). Richard Dempsey is terrific as prosecuting counsel Horace Gilmer, while Stephen Boxer’s Judge Taylor is another modest role, perfectly performed. Andrea Davy is terrific as Calpurnia, Finch's black housekeeper who frequently holds up a mirror to his frailties.

Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation is masterfully penned – but is too long, especially in the first act. Where the visual impact of a movie scene can describe a story’s canvas in a second, dramatic narrative is a more laboured process. Lee’s original is a rich narrative, the details of which are not easily condensed into the confines of a theatre and there are moments when the story’s otherwise beautiful momentum, flags. At just over three hours, the play is a long-haul. Kander & Ebb’s The Scottsboro Boys, a musical also centred on racial injustice in the 1930s American South together with the flawed legal systems of the time, made its point as powerfully in just 90 minutes

Long maybe, but this is powerful theatre and a display of the finest acting in town.

Runs until 12th September

Photo credit: Johan Persson