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To Kill a Mockingbird (2008) >
Amador Ledger Dispatch|News and Review
Wide-eyed Scout is a young girl fascinated with the people in her quiet southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, where there's a rumble of thunder just under the calm surface of life. Playwright Christopher Sergel dramatizes Harper Lee’s beautifully written story, evoking the solitude and richness that characterize Maycomb’s community of eccentrics, loving families and Scout’s mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley.
The story of To Kill a Mockingbird is simple, yet it speaks deeply and eloquently of human nature and of human values. The action is set in the 1930's in a sleepy Southern town, where Atticus Finch, an attorney and the widowed father of two young children, stands against his fellow townspeople by defending a young black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Through every step and with every word, Atticus instills in his children the traditional moral values of respect for others, honesty, courage, integrity, and above all, responsibility for one's actions.
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Amador Ledger-Dispatch
MSTW's 'Mockingbird' hits all the notes
By Scott Thomas Anderson, Amador Ledger-Dispatch
(7.01.08)
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars
When dealing with one of the most popular American novels ever written, it goes without saying any theater group hoping to conjure it on the stage is up against big pressure not to disappoint.
After all, three generations of readers have come to love Harper Lee's timeless story about a family's attempt to demonstrate compassion and integrity in the face of unbridled hatred. Even more daunting for a theater company is the fact that Gregory Peck's performance in the 1962 film adaptation is considered one of the most memorable in modern cinema.
Yet Main Street Theatre Works has conquered both of these mountains with good casting and a brilliantly unique take on recreating the old South's rustic ambiance within their outdoor venue. In the end, this offering of "To Kill a Mockingbird" touches on all the familiar emotions that have caused people to love Atticus Finch and his children over the years - never missing with its sentimentality or its seriousness - and never shying from its insights on both childhood wonder, as well as the fragile nature of justice.
In the lead role of Atticus Finch is one of MSTW's tried-and-true soldiers, Allen Pontes. With memorable stints in "Same Time Next Year" and "Moonlight and Magnolias," Pontes has shown himself to be consistently excellent in the spotlight. His turn under Gregory Peck's shadow is no exception. Pontes deals with the challenge of defining himself in the part of Atticus by concentrating on the character's fatherly instincts and quiet dignity. As the cornerstone of a tale about a complicated individual taking an unpopular stand for racial equality in 1935 Alabama, Pontes makes the audience feels his understated frustration at every turn. He also makes the drama quintessentially believable.
Another major highlight of the production is Traci Marshall as Calpurnia, the outspoken caretaker of the Finch children, Jem and Scout. Marshall is both funny and soulfully poignant. Her guise as a second moral compass to the children while they feel the brunt of their father's actions is an essential part of the story; and Marshall carries it off with entertaining grace. Kelton Howard also leaves an outstanding impression as Tom Robinson, the black man wrongly accused of beating and raping a white woman. Though limited to a single appearance in the court room scene, Howard delivers a riveting performance.
While Pontes, Marshall and Howard each have turns impressing the audience (not to mention Julie Anchor and Brianna Lynaugh as well), the true stars of this production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" are its supremely talented child actors, especially Devon Hayakawa and Matthew Taul. It's difficult to imagine a better choice than Hayakawa to play Scout Finch, the curious tomboy attempting to understand her father and the greater world he often seems at odds with. Hayakawa not only delivers her lines flawlessly throughout the performance, she shows a strong range of energy and emotion and makes the feel for the story's innocence something the audience could sense in their core. Playing her older brother, Jem, Taul shows signs of a truly skilled actor in the works. Much like the performance of his on-stage father, Taul is believable in every scene.
Of all of many artistic touches that make this production shine, one of the greatest ones was the casting of Donald Gibson, a gospel singer from the Center of Praise Church in Sacramento, as Rev. Sykes. Gibson and one of his fellow choir members have several stirring moments on stage with Marshall (herself possessing an excellent gospel voice), bringing to life the gut-wrenching hymns of suffering and perseverance that define the slave experience in the South. Combined with the outstanding set design, smart direction and spirited performances, this touch makes MSTW's version of "To Kill A Mockingbird" truly its own - and well worth seeing.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" runs Fridays and Saturdays until July 19. Patrons are encouraged to come early to this venue and bring their picnics, chairs and jackets. The gates open at 6:30 p.m., with curtain at 8 p.m. The Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre is located on North Main Street in Jackson, next to the Country Squire Motel. Tickets are available at the gate, or in advance at LizzieAnn's/Bubblegum Books, 59 Main St., Sutter Creek or Hein & Co. Bookstore, 204 Main St., Jackson. Patrons may charge by phone between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 267-5680. Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for students 18 and under.
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Sacramento News and Review
Yes, Lee Can!
By Jeff Hudson, Sacramento News and Review
(7.03.08)
Harper Lee’s classic novel from 1960, set in the Depression-era South, is a coming-of-age story, a courtroom drama and a portrait of corrosive racial prejudice.
Christopher Sergel’s oft-staged adaptation, currently mounted outdoors by Main Street Theatre Works, resonates best during the courtroom scenes, which dominate this production. Actors Allen Pontes (as wise, compassionate attorney Atticus Finch), Kelton Howard (the unjustly accused black defendant in a rape case, aware he won’t get a fair trial) and Mark Stone (angry racist Tom Ewell) generate electricity, guided by director Susan McCandless.
However, the show’s opening scenes, depicting leisurely everyday life, sometimes turn languid; and the play’s closing confrontation doesn’t deliver quite the chill of tragedy barely averted that it might.
Traci Marshall (as warm, savvy housekeeper Calpurnia) brightens several scenes, fussing over three slightly wayward youngsters (played by tomgirl Devon Hayakawa and teenage boys Matthew Taul and Matt Kozak). Julie Anchor (Miss Maudie) bridges scenes as narrator, with ruminative monologues. The Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre, with its grassy terraces and majestic oaks, is also a pleasant, casual venue on warm summer evenings.
It’s also fascinating to relive Mockingbird today, with its focus on racial issues, as Barack Obama contends for the White House. When Lee wrote the novel, it was beyond the realm of political possibility that a person of color, or a woman, could even represent America like Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. So what about an election for the Oval Office? How will voters handle this? Time will tell.
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