To Kill A Mockingbird

While WDG has gained a solid reputation for presenting a wide variety of productions in its 70+ years on the Central Coast, they have undoubtedly lead the way in mentoring eager young directors who have the passion to showcase more diverse, contemporary works. Their new, intimate 'home' venue at Red Tree Theatre lends itself to a certain amount of risk-taking.

Even so, staging a local production of To Kill a Mockingbird arguably represents their bravest choice to date. Like many plays performed in the last year, this production spent over two years in gestation. The eager young director in this instance, Vivienne McLaren, had her work cut out for her in doing justice to this famously quintessential American Story.

As a fan of the book, I particularly enjoyed the quirky, all-pervasive 'child's-eye view' for which it is so famous. In this adaptation however, an older version of 'Scout' Finch acts as the play's Narrator, which condenses big chunks of the script into exposition. Happily the children's roles aren't done away with entirely. Sally Bartley navigates this huge responsibility deftly as she's called upon to alternate between being the central focus and fading into the background, remaining on stage throughout.

The key word to sum up this production is 'trust'. WDG entrusted McLaren to take on the script's complexities and assemble a credible cast. The cast, in turn, undoubtedly had to trust their director well enough to lean right into their characters without falling over into caricature. And McLaren herself had to trust that they'd do just that.

Mission accomplished.

The youngsters playing young Scout, Jem and Dill (Sophie Goodwin, Zara Taylor and Cameron Eltham) have nice chemistry as a trio and each holds their own alongside their experienced peers. Speaking of experience, WDG stalwart Marc Calwell has to bring every ounce of his to effortlessly bring the stoic, even-tempered Atticus Finch to life - without veering off into piety. 

Gavin Fryer deserves special mention for sturdiness and natural ease as Sheriff Tate, while James Hunter is suitably imposing as lawyer for the Prosecution. 

Central to the Courtroom Drama, the falsely-accused Tom Robinson is subtlely under-played by promising young talent Max Leaitua. His humble presence provides the perfect foil for Emerson Goodenough's complex energy to run rampant as Mayella Ewell. Every remaining member of this strong ensemble cast imbues their characters with idiosyncratic charm (or the exact opposite) as is the case with the gormless, reprehensible Bob Ewell, as played by Stephen McLaren.

A static set, made of wooden slats and pallets erected and arranged to invoke rustic, country-style home fronts and porches, while easily converting into an unimposing backdrop for the courtroom scene – is a credit to set designer Joshua Maxwell's artistic sensibility. The costume selection is also on point.

While it can be said that this play is very much of its time, one doesn't have to spend much time on social media to note how deeply entrenched racism still is in the so-called Western World, especially as far as policing is concerned. The message of this adaptation is just as valid and resonating now, as it ever was.

Rose Cooper

*** It's interesting, therefore, to note that a completely revamped version of this play made its Broadway debut in 2018, penned by The West Wing's Aaron Sorkin. Looking forward to local productions of that! Another Sidenote: While researching for this review I also discovered that in 2015, Harper Lee published a 'new' novel. Although it was technically written before Mockingbird, the novel is essentially a sequel. “Go Set a Watchman” is set 20 years after the events of Mockingbird.

So, that's my next audio book sorted.