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By Kathy Carpenter, Associate/Youth Reviewer www.sdtheatrereviews.com
February 22, 2017 (Santee) – In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch admonished his children to walk in someone else's shoes before judging them. You cannot know another clearly until you have considered things through their eyes. That’s a lesson we could all benefit from if we chose to exercise the option more.
Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill A Mockingbird, a historically significant work that’s important reading material in many schools. Give your child a chance to see this controversial work.
Tyler Richard Hewes directed this Pickwick Players production. He chose to have a narrator, Amy Stanley, as an adult Scout. Although she did a good job, for some reason, maybe the writer in me, constantly told show don't tell, I have a hard time with the narrator. I want to see the story unfold.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a play rich in character. In fact, the cast consisted of twenty-six actors, most with speaking lines. Several were such wonderful characters you feel they needed their own stories. In a day and age where we are so used to serial books, this was long a stand-alone work, though Harper Lee did come out with Go Set A Watchman, six months before her death, that featured Scout twenty years later. The story was more of a prior draft of To Kill A Mockingbird, than a sequel.
To Kill A Mockingbird is set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama in 1935. The story is told from the eyes of a child, Scout. Her father Atticus, a lawyer, represents a black man accused of raping a white woman.
The girl playing Scout, 13-year-old Francesca Fong, was my favorite character; she was incredible. Young actors are so often overlooked when they star in plays with adults. The other two young actors were awesome as well: Finn McClure as Dill, and Nicholas Lux as Scout's brother, Jem. Larry E. Fox, always with such a cool demeanor, just kind of assumed the role of the great Atticus Finch effortlessly. Taurian McLeod took on the role of the accused Tom Robinson. He really gave you thought for the cause Everyone who had a speaking part no matter how small, rounded out the townsfolk of Maycomb. The entire cast rocked.
The show plays at Off Broadway Live, 9490 Cuyamaca Street in Santee. Four more performances are scheduled on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of February 2017.
For tickets or more information call (619) 448-5673 or visit www.pickwickplayers.net.
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