Review: To Kill A Mockingbird at Milton Keynes Theatre
The smash‐hit Broadway and West End production of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird arrived at Milton Keynes Theatre on Tuesday night – and took the audience on an emotional journey that will live long in the memory.
Adapted for the stage by Oscar‐winner Aaron Sorkin, the American novel about racial injustice and childhood innocence is on its first ever UK & Ireland tour.
Set in 1934 Alabama, To Kill a Mockingbird was inspired by Lee’s own childhood and the book has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.
Small town lawyer, Atticus Finch (who admits he’s usually paid in vegetables!), takes on the case of Tom Robinson – a young black man falsely accused of raping a white woman.
He talks Tom (Aaron Shosanya) out of making a guilty plea deal of 18 years jail time, but is then faced with a barrage of criticism for taking on the case by the mostly prejudiced local community.
Patrick O’Kane is simply fantastic as Atticus, who has the courage to stick to his principles despite all the pressure.
His kids Scout Finch (Anna Munden) and Jem Finch (Jonathan Rubin) struggle to comprehend the deeply ingrained discrimination of the locals, offering a glimmer hope that attitudes will change over the coming generations.
The energetic Scout and Jem narrate the story at key times brilliantly, with their friend Dill Harris (Dylan Malyn) picking his moments for over enthusiastically butting in to comical effect.
The play is a bum numbing 2 hours and 50 minutes (including an interval) and five minutes in, with already a huge swathe of scene-setting dialogue delivered, I must admit I was worried the evening would drag.
But before I knew it I was engrossed in the storyline and those initial fears completely vanished.
Yes, this is certainly powerful and poignant material – and you would’ve been able to hear a pin drop at times such was the audience’s total investment in the drama unfolding – but there was also plenty of subtle humour included.
The courtroom swearing in of Tom Robinson with his non-functioning left hand and the subsequent objection from the prosecution had us chuckling. Then we had nervous alleged rape victim Mayella Ewell feeling pressure on the stand to maintain her lie and speaking at an incoherent volume to the annoyance of the Judge Taylor (Stephen Boxer) who let his frustration boil over by uttering “sweet Jesus, what’s wrong with you?”
Oscar Pearce as Mayella’s racist and abusive father, Bob, also deserves a special mention for getting under our skin and making the audience despise him.
The set design was also top notch with the cast sliding the scenery into place expertly – as, for example, a courtroom became the Finch’s front porch within seconds.
I’d strongly recommend catching the production this week to find out if Atticus can beat the odds by winning over the hearts and minds of the all-white jury.
To Kill a Mockingbird is at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, May 23. Book your tickets at ATGTICKETS.COM/MiltonKeynes