To Kill a Mockingbird (2018 play)

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To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird Original Broadway Production Playbill - 2018.jpeg
Promotional Playbill cover of the original Broadway production
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Based on To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
Date premieredDecember 13, 2018 (2018-12-13)
Place premiered Shubert Theatre, New York City
Genre Drama
Setting Maycomb, Alabama

To Kill a Mockingbird is a 2018 play based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee, adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin. It opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on December 13, 2018. The play opened in London's West End at the Gielgud Theatre in March 2022. [1] [2] The show follows the story of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in 1930s Alabama, as he defends Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape. [3] Varying from the book, the play has Atticus as the protagonist, not his daughter Scout, allowing his character to change throughout the show. [4] During development the show was involved in two legal disputes, the first with the Lee estate over the faithfulness of the play to the original book, and the second was due to exclusivity to the rights with productions using an earlier script by Christopher Sergel. [4] [5] During opening week, the production garnered more than $1.5 million in box office sales and reviews by publications such as the New York Times, LA Times and AMNY were positive but not without criticism. [6] [7] [8] [9]

Contents

Cast

CharacterBroadwayWest EndUS National Tour
20182022
Atticus Finch Jeff Daniels Rafe Spall Richard Thomas
Scout Finch Celia Keenan-Bolger Gwyneth Keyworth Melanie Moore
Jem FinchWill PullenHarry ReddingJustin Mark
Dill Harris Gideon Glick David MoorstSteven Lee Johnson
Bob Ewell Fred Weller Patrick O'Kane Joey Collins
Tom Robinson Gbenga Akinnagbe Jude OwusuYaegel T. Welch
Horace Gilmer Stark Sands David Sturzaker Luke Smith
Judge John Taylor Dakin Matthews Jim Norton Richard Poe
Mayella Ewell Erin Wilhelmi Poppy Lee Friar Arianna Gayle Stucki
Link Deas Neal Huff Lloyd Hutchinson Anthony Natale
Boo RadleyDanny WolohanHarry AttwellTravis Johns
Calpurnia LaTanya Richardson Pamela Nomvete Jacqueline Williams

Notable Replacements

Broadway (2018-2022) [10] [11]

West End (2022-2023) [12]

Production history

To Kill a Mockingbird at the Shubert Theatre in 2019 Shubert Theatre (48295953896).jpg
To Kill a Mockingbird at the Shubert Theatre in 2019

Broadway (20182022)

It was announced in February 2016 that Aaron Sorkin would bring the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to Broadway, in a new production produced by Scott Rudin and directed by Bartlett Sher. [13] The book had previously been adapted for the stage but Rudin specified that this production would be completely unrelated to the prior pieces.[ citation needed ] On February 15, 2018, it was announced that Jeff Daniels would star in the production as Atticus Finch.[ citation needed ] Celia Keenan-Bolger and Will Pullen were also announced to play Scout and Jem Finch, respectively. [14] The production began previews at the Shubert Theatre on November 1, 2018, prior to an official opening on December 13, 2018.

During production the show was involved in two legal disputes, one with the Harper Lee estate, and the other against licensed productions of the Christopher Sergel adaptation. [15] [16]

On March 12, 2020, the play suspended production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [17] The play resumed performances on October 5, 2021 at the Shubert Theatre, with the original cast of Jeff Daniels and Celia Keenan-Bolger returning. A new executive producer, Orin Wolf, took over. [18] On January 12, 2022, it was announced the show would play its final performance at the Shubert Theatre on January 16, and reopen at the Belasco Theatre on June 1. [19] Greg Kinnear was set to resume as Atticus Finch when the production reopened. [20] However, Girl From the North Country's run at the Belasco is slated to run through June 11 and a new opening date for Mockingbird has not been announced. [21] On July 29, 2022, it was reported the Broadway production would not reopen after producer Scott Rudin decided that he did not have confidence in the climate for plays the following winter. [22]

West End (2022-2023)

In 2019 it was announced that the production would transfer to London's West End to the Gielgud Theatre opening in May 2020 with Rhys Ifans as Atticus Finch before being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [23]

It eventually opened on 31 March 2022 with Rafe Spall replacing Ifans as Atticus Finch, and Gwyneth Keyworth as Scout. [24] [25]

Spall was replaced by Richard Coyle [26] from August 2022 until November 2022, and then from December 2022 Matthew Modine took over as Atticus Finch [27] until the end of the extended run on 20 May 2023, with Anna Munden replacing Keyworth as Scout.

Sorkin and the Harper Lee estate

During development of the play, the Lee estate believed that the proposed script varied too much from the book, and a complaint was filed in an Alabama federal court in March 2018. [15] In discussion with Sorkin about the terms of use for the rights to produce a play, it was specified by the estate that the character of Atticus should not deviate from the original character created by Harper Lee. [28] The Lee estate alleged that Sorkin had made too many changes to the original story by framing Atticus as the main character instead of Scout. [4] Sorkin describes how the evolution of Atticus was viewed by the Lee estate as being "far less dignified" than the original character but the show's lawyers disputed this point stating his character "does not derogate or depart from the spirit of the novel." [15] Because the Lee estate lawsuit was jeopardizing the release of the show, a countersuit of $10 million was filed by Sorkin's lawyers in April 2018. [28] In May 2018, the premiere of the show was confirmed after an agreement was reached between the two parties, and both lawsuits were settled. [28]

Rudin against licensed productions

Before Sorkin adapted To Kill a Mockingbird for the theatre, a different adaptation of the novel by playwright Christopher Sergel had been available for license for over 50 years. [29] Claiming worldwide exclusivity for the professional stage rights to any adaptation of Lee's novel, lawyers acting for the company Scott Rudin formed to produce Sorkin's adaptation, Atticus LLC (ALLC), moved to shut down productions of the Sergel adaption staged within 25 miles of any city that ALLC determined to be a major metropolitan center that might eventually host a production of Sorkin's adaptation, even if that company had already paid the rights holders. [30] [31] [5] [32] Dozens of community and non-profit theaters across the US cancelled productions of Sergel's adaptation, as well as a professional tour planned in the UK. [33] [34] After a public outcry, Scott Rudin offered to "ameliorate the hurt caused" by making Sorkin's adaptation available to regional producers. [35] In 2022, Harper Lee's estate was ordered by an arbitor to pay $2.5 million to Dramatic Publishing in damages and fees. [36]

Reception

Critical reception

While some critics criticized the liberties taken by Sorkin, the Los Angeles Times theater critic Charles McNulty however wrote that Sorkin's adaptation "moves as confidently as it speaks even if it doesn't completely add up dramatically." [7] McNulty disputes those who take issue with the changes Sorkin made to the story by stating that Sorkin "created something impeccably fresh." [7] Jesse Green, a theater critic from the New York Times articulated that Sorkin's choice to start with the trial and provide backstory through scenes going back in time was "very effective" for telling the story on stage. [8] Matt Windman argues that "some of Sorkin's choices are questionable" and that the set design was "too distracting to be effective." [9] Windman also articulates that the show "proves to be an engrossing, provocative, and uniformly well-acted adaptation." [9]

Box office

The show opened on December 13, 2018, during the week ending on December 23, the production grossed over $1.5 million, breaking the record for box office grosses for a non-musical play in a theater owned by The Shubert Organization. [6] Prior to opening, $22 million were made in advance ticket sales at the box office. [37]

Awards and nominations

Broadway production

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
2019 Tony Awards [38] Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play Jeff Daniels Nominated
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play Gideon Glick Nominated
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Celia Keenan-Bolger Won
Best Original Score Adam Guettel Nominated
Best Direction of a Play Bartlett Sher Nominated
Best Scenic Design of a Play Miriam Buether Nominated
Best Costume Design of a Play Ann Roth Nominated
Best Lighting Design of a Play Jennifer Tipton Nominated
Best Sound Design of a Play Scott LehrerNominated
Drama Desk Award [39] Outstanding Featured Actress in a PlayCelia Keenan-BolgerWon
Drama League Awards [40] Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway PlayNominated
Distinguished Performance AwardJeff DanielsNominated
Celia Keenan-BolgerNominated
Outer Critics Circle Awards [41] Outstanding New Broadway PlayNominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a PlayCelia Keenan-BolgerWon
Outstanding Director of a PlayBartlett SherNominated

West End production

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResult
2023Laurence Olivier AwardsBest PlayNominated
Best Actor Rafe Spall Nominated
Best Actor in a Supporting RoleDavid MoorstNominated
Best Director Bartlett Sher Nominated
Best Set Design Miriam Buether Nominated

Related Research Articles

<i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> 1960 novel by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in June 1960 and became instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. To Kill a Mockingbird has become a classic of modern American literature; a year after its release, it won the Pulitzer Prize. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Sorkin</span> American filmmaker (born 1961)

Aaron Benjamin Sorkin is an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a writer for stage, television, and film, Sorkin is recognized for his trademark fast-paced dialogue and extended monologues, complemented by frequent use of the storytelling technique called the "walk and talk". Sorkin has earned numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Thomas (actor)</span> American actor

Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor. He is best known for his leading role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama series The Waltons for which he won an Emmy Award. He also received another Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations for that role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Modine</span> American actor (born 1959)

Matthew Avery Modine is an American actor. He rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987). Other films include Birdy (1984), Vision Quest (1985), Married to the Mob (1988), Gross Anatomy (1989), Pacific Heights (1990), Short Cuts (1993), Cutthroat Island (1995), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Oppenheimer (2023). On television, he portrayed Dr. Don Francis in the HBO film And the Band Played On (1993), the oversexed Sullivan Groff on Weeds (2007), Ivan Turing in Proof (2015), and Dr. Martin Brenner in Netflix's Stranger Things (2016–2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Daniels</span> American actor (born 1955)

Jeffrey Warren Daniels is an American actor. He is known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for three Tony Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhys Ifans</span> Welsh actor (born 1967)

Rhys Owain Evans, better known as Rhys Ifans, is a Welsh actor. He is best known for his roles in Notting Hill (1999), Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), and Enduring Love (2004) as well as his portrayals of Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), the supervillain Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Grigori Rasputin in The King's Man (2021). Other roles include Hector DeJean in the Epix thriller series Berlin Station, Mycroft Holmes in the CBS series Elementary, and Ser Otto Hightower in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaTanya Richardson Jackson</span> American actress

LaTanya Richardson Jackson is an American actress. She began her career appearing in off-Broadway productions, before playing supporting roles on television and film.

Richard Coyle is an English actor. He portrayed the lead role of Father Faustus Blackwood in Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Jeff Murdock in the sitcom Coupling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Badham</span> American actress

Mary Badham is an American actress who portrayed Jean Louise "Scout" Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. At the time, Badham was the youngest actress ever nominated in this category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shubert Theatre (Broadway)</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theater at 225 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance style and was built for the Shubert brothers. Lee and J. J. Shubert had named the theater in memory of their brother Sam S. Shubert, who died in an accident several years before the theater's opening. It has 1,502 seats across three levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The facade and interior are New York City landmarks.

Celia Keenan-Bolger is an American actress and singer. She is known for portraying Scout Finch in the play To Kill a Mockingbird (2018), which earned her a Tony Award. She has also won three Drama Desk Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

<i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> (film) 1962 film by Robert Mulligan

To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American coming-of-age legal drama crime film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Horton Foote is based on Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name. The film stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. It marked the film debut of Robert Duvall, William Windom, and Alice Ghostley.

Scott Rudin is an American film, television and theatre producer. His films include the Academy Award-winning Best Picture No Country for Old Men, as well as Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, Fences, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, School of Rock, Zoolander, The Truman Show, Clueless, The Addams Family, and eight Wes Anderson films. On Broadway, he has won 17 Tony Awards for shows such as The Book of Mormon, Hello, Dolly!, The Humans, A View from the Bridge, Fences and Passion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atticus Finch</span> Fictional character

Atticus Finch is a fictional character and the protagonist of Harper Lee's Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel of 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird. A preliminary version of the character also appears in the novel Go Set a Watchman, written in the mid-1950s but not published until 2015. Atticus is a lawyer and resident of the fictional Maycomb County, Alabama, and the father of Jeremy "Jem" Finch and Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. He represents the African-American man Tom Robinson in his trial where he is charged with rape of Mayella Ewell. Lee based the character on her own father, Amasa Coleman Lee, an Alabama lawyer, who, like Atticus, represented black defendants in a highly publicized criminal trial. Book magazine's list of The 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900 names Finch as the seventh best fictional character of 20th-century literature. In 2003, the American Film Institute voted Atticus Finch, as portrayed in an Academy Award-winning performance by Gregory Peck in the 1962 film adaptation, as the greatest hero of all American cinema. In the 2018 Broadway stage play adapted by Aaron Sorkin, Finch has been portrayed by various actors including Jeff Daniels, Ed Harris, Greg Kinnear, Rhys Ifans, and Richard Thomas.

Neal Huff is an American actor from New York City. In April 2018, he performed as Willie Oban in the Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh. In December 2018, Huff began performing in To Kill a Mockingbird, adapted for stage by Aaron Sorkin on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre as Link Deas.

Gideon Glick is an American actor. His Broadway work includes originating the roles of Ernst in the musical Spring Awakening, Jimmy-6 in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Jordan Berman in Significant Other, and Dill Harris in Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he was nominated for the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Zachary Booth is an American actor. He appeared in several productions with the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire, before starring in The N's What Goes On and on FX's Damages. Booth is a 2004 BFA graduate of the University of Michigan.

Taylor Hunt Trensch is an American stage and film actor.

Calpurnia is a 2018 play by Canadian playwright Audrey Dwyer. It is named after Calpurnia, a character in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.

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