![]() ![]() Where: San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave. Enormously popular, it was translated into some 40 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and is one of the most-assigned novels in American schools. Let’s begin with justice.” Nearly 100 years after the fictional Atticus spoke those words, Black Americans are still fighting for justice and change. To Kill a Mockingbird, novel by American author Harper Lee, published in 1960. And in the play’s climactic courtroom scene, Atticus turns away from the jury box and gives his final summation to the audience about the destructive power of hate, saying: “We can’t go on like this, we know. The script includes dozens of uses of the N-word and other racial epithets, which hit like a hammer every time. ![]() Its call to action hits so much harder now in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. ![]() I first saw this play on Broadway in 2019, but on Wednesday night, it felt like I was discovering it anew. Or maybe it’s about the play’s burning flame of White supremacy, which is sadly still aglow today. Perhaps this fire curtain is a nod to that era, or it’s a reference to the house fire in the novel, where the town’s politically divided White neighbors join hands to rescue a neighbor from her burning home. In the ‘30s, asbestos-lined stage curtains were a common way to protect the audience from backstage conflagrations. Scenic designer Miriam Buether’s weathered courtroom and Finch front porch scenery hint at the long decline of the South and a stylized “fire curtain” hides the stage before each act. And Steven Lee Johnson has a sweet, ethereal innocence as their gentle-hearted childhood friend Dill. Melanie Moore is quirky as the socially awkward tomboy Scout as Jem, Justin Mark takes his character on a credible loss of innocence journey. The play is narrated by the novel’s three youngest characters, who are all played with childlike humor, guilelessness and gawky physicality. ![]()
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