![]() (Plus, her house, as designed by August Viverito, also doubles (confusingly) as that of grumpy neighbor Mrs. The poor actress is in a bind, for the narration on stage, unlike Scout’s narrative in the novel, serves to deflate and undermine the drama. Also, Sergel makes a narrator out of Atticus’s kindly neighbor, Maudie Atkinson, played by the luminous and lovely Ferrell Marshall she is assigned the duty of back-story and interpretation of Southern mores, both of which should have been dramatized. Instead of fleshing out Bob Ewell, the man who falsely accuses Robinson, Sergel creates a nasty, wood-whittling, poor-white-trash, drunk stereotype therefore, actor Skip Pipo’s earnest rendition comes off as more cartoonish than menacing. Sergel’s script is packed with rich dialogue, but as with most melodramas, he often eschews dramatic structure for a world of heightened emotion and stock characters. T L Kolman’s direction lacks tension in Act I, but once the trial begins in Act II, an evening which veered close to mawkishness becomes emotionally riveting and well worth a visit. It is astounding how ultimately moving and sweet this Mockingbird is, given the cramped staging, Sergel’s melodramatic script, and some performances that are still finding their footing. This week, the estimable The Production Company begins a new season with an ambitious production of Christopher Sergel’s 1970 adaptation at the Lex Theatre, their new home in Hollywood. ![]() More powerful yet is that To Kill a Mockingbird is a Bildungsroman (or coming-of-age tale) in which children question, and are affected by, the world around them (the title refers to murdering that which is harmless). Lee’s Southern Gothic poeticism, the examination of the Deep South’s caste system, and themes of racism and lost innocence still reverberate today. ![]() Although some have argued that many of the poor white Southerners and victimized black characters are one-dimensional (and that Atticus’ daughter, six-year-old Scout, narrates the book with the vocabulary of a Rhodes Scholar), it has never been out of print. Harper Lee’s 1960 story about lawyer Atticus Finch, who defends Tom Robinson, a black man wrongfully accused of rape in 1935 Alabama, has lost none of its appeal.
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