To Kill A Mockingbird, West Yorkshire Playhouse

THE cast are intermingled with the audience; a whistle signifies the start of the show as actors turn-take reading sections of To Kill a Mockingbird’s opening. They embrace Director Timothy Sheader’s desire to make the audience part of the story-telling process, as all collectively listen.

Christopher Sergel’s stage adaptation of Lee’s partially autobiographical novel faithfully retells the story. Keeping source material central to the show, Sheader auditioned actors using the book, rather than Sergel’s script and cast – playing minor – characters pretend to read the novel at the back of the stage while the action plays out.

Gradually descending on the stage, with chalk the cast first draw out the set across the floor, labelling key locations. Corrugated iron lines the walls of an otherwise empty set, aside from a girl on a rope tyre swinging from a tree. In her professional theatre debut, Jemima Bennett impressively captures the voice of six-year-old Scout – giving the stand-out performance.

From Scout’s perspective we’re given a much simpler interpretation of events unfolding in the small town she lives in, as a rape trial takes place.

Linking scenes and setting the mood, musician Luke Potter plays guitar, ukulele and harmonica. Cast playing the main characters arrive separately on stage, heralding their importance. Leo Heller makes an amusingly eccentric Charles Edgar Harris “Dill”, while Harry Bennett ably plays Jem. Daniel Betts makes a convincing mild-mannered Atticus Finch.

During a courtroom scene there’s a particularly powerful exchange between Mayella Ewell’s lawyer, Mr Gilmer (David Carlyle), and Tom Robinson (Zackary Momon) as Gilmer shockingly asks: “Are you being ignorant to me nigger?”

The final re-emergence of Boo Radley (Christopher Akrill) is another emotionally charged scene. As it grows and changes in front of us, Designer Jon Bausor’s set cleverly represents the power of words to trigger imagination, while also demonstrating how Scout views her community as her very own playground.

Bausor uses limited additional props, such as a picket fence for Boo Radley’s house. The courtroom is simply comprised of benches, four desks, two typewriters and an American flag – while the jail is signified by the arrival of a lamp and chair.

A multi-talented cast consistently play out a perfect adaptation that really captures the small community vibe – exploring its complexities, injustices and turmoil.

Sobs are heard throughout a captivating performance – one that deserved a standing ovation. Considering Robert Mulligan’s triple Academy Award-winning screen adaptation is judged to be one of the greatest, Regent’s Park Theatre do a good job of rivalling it.

To Kill A Mockingbird is on until Saturday.

Leo Owen