Kill a Mockingbird - Gielgud Theatre

★★★☆☆

“Kill a Mockingbird”
📍Gielgud Theatre
🎫£15 (Rush Tickets via TodayTix)

OK, so I had very high expectations for this play, since its so heavily marketed. If you walk around West End you will see the posters and banners promoting it everywhere. They also have a Rush Tickets deal which usually is only available for the “hottest” plays in town. So I was quite excited to see it. And… well, let’s say these expectations were not 100% met.

The company of To Kill A Mockingbird. Photo: Marc Brenner

With its backdrop of southern Alabama in 1934, To Kill a Mockingbird has given American literature some of its most enduring characters: defense attorney Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, his daughter Scout, her brother Jem, and their housekeeper and caretaker Calpurnia, as well as reclusive Arthur “Boo” Radley. A story, character and portrait of small-town America have inspired conversation and changes for 60 years and 70 generations, and will do so for decades to come.

Over 45 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide, telling the enduring story of racial injustice and innocence. 2020 marked the 60th anniversary of its publication.

The good:
Stage setup – beautiful, creative, with many moving elements
Actors – for the most part, the roles were played beautifully. With the exception of the last 30 minutes.

Jude Owusu as Tom Robinson. Photo: Marc Brenner

The bad:
Music – minimalistic, for me maybe too little of it. But I’m a musical fan so it may be just that.
Lights setup – ok, call me a perfectionist but whoever was manning the spotlight needs to catch up on actors moving on the stage, I had a constant feeling that the light is lagging.
The last 30 min of the play- way too extended, could have been done in 10 min. On top of that, some scenes that are supposed to show emotions are played by shouting constantly at each other – I could almost feel my ears burst. There are so many ways to showcase emotions and I feel it was not necessary to do it this way.

Summary: decent but to me, a little overly hyped play.