Other cast members include some familiar faces, notably Ansa Akyea as the falsely accused Tom Robinson, Bruce Bohne as Bob Ewell, Michael Booth as Boo Radley, Stacia Rice as Miss Maudie and Regina Marie Williams as Calpurnia. Now people are upset that Atticus is deeply flawed in ‘Go Set a Watchman.’ You can’t win.” “There’s been a good deal of criticism that the character of Atticus is a plaster saint, but the story is told in the first person by a daughter looking at her dad, and it’s hard to see a parent objectively. “People are so sentimental about it,” he said. Likewise, the controversy stirred subsequently by Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman” and its revelations about Atticus’ racism has not altered Miller-Stephany’s interpretation of the play. Rather, it was based on audience interest in adaptations of classic novels like “Pride and Prejudice” and “Jane Eyre.” The decision to open the Guthrie season with “Mockingbird” had nothing to do with the news last February that a sequel to the book had been discovered, said Miller-Stephany. The earliest version included narration, which was critically panned, but the second version, the one being used by the Guthrie, goes without the voiceover. Sergel originally intended his play for middle-school and high-school casts, but it immediately became a draw for all ages after its 1991 American premiere at the Paper Mill in New Jersey. We’re in a different historical moment, so it resonates for different reasons.” In view of the volatility of race relations today, Walsh said, the play is “terrifyingly relevant. But it’s easier with theater to make it feel in the present. Paul Walsh, a professor of dramaturgy and dramatic criticism at the Yale School of Drama, said that plays laced with nostalgia are tricky to pull off because “you need to find that balance between what the public wants and expects, and bringing things into 2015. But when you see the story with 1,100 other people, it’s a community experiencing something together, and that’s a real thrill.” “You’re not going to be surprised by watching the movie again,” Miller-Stephany said. The play won’t take the place of the book or film, but rather add to them, particularly because going to the theater is not an individual, private undertaking, but one shared with the rest of the audience. People come year after year, even though they know Scrooge is going to become a better man.” “There’s part of us that loves to hear some stories over and over again. People are going to see things they don’t remember from the book or movie. “Instead, we’ve got this group of artists, and this moving, heartfelt story presented in a new way. Everyone’s point of departure is different, so it’s impossible to satisfy that. The film is, in fact, only a subset of the novel. “There’ve been 30 million copies of the book published. “You have to let go of other people’s expectations,” said Miller-Stephany, who has directed 17 productions in nearly two decades with the Guthrie. Namely, the audience’s varying desires, ranging from an exact copy of the book or film to something completely unfamiliar.Īnsa Akyea as Tom Robinson and Baylen Thomas as Atticus in “To Kill a Mockingbird” at the Guthrie Theater.ĭirector John Miller-Stephany’s approach: You can’t please ’em all, so do your own thing. While Christopher Sergel’s scrupulously faithful stage adaptation received the always-wary Lee’s personal seal of approval, presenting such an iconic drama anew comes with challenges. Nor is it the Pulitzer-winning Harper Lee novel on which the film was based, one of the most widely read and beloved works of 20th-century American fiction. That’s why this is such a great opportunity for both the actors and the audience: It isn’t the movie.” Something about seeing a live actor go through events in real time can’t help but be profound. “But a play can have moments that last longer than they do on film. “We’re going to have to let people down easy - Gregory Peck is not in this production,” Thomas joked during a recent rehearsal break. How does an actor go about making such a part his own? In the collective American memory, that character is thoroughly embodied by Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar in 1963 for his portrayal of the single parent and noble lawyer bucking small-town racist mores in the Deep South during the Depression. He plays Finch in the Guthrie Theater’s staging of “Mockingbird” that opens Friday. In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Atticus Finch tells his daughter, Scout, that you can’t really understand another person “until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”īaylen Thomas is about to climb into Atticus’ skin, and doing so makes him one brave fellow.
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