To Kill A Mockingbird Reviews

Pearl from London, England

VERY DISAPPOINTING

I finished re-reading the book a few days before seeing this play. I first saw this on stage in the 80s and it was excellent so I knew it could have been done well. This production was very disappointing. The book children were charming and innocent. Stage children lacked these qualities and accents left a lot to be desired. My biggest disappointment was the role of Calpurnia. This character in the book was strong and tough and exhibiting grace that Scout admired. The stage Cal has been turned into the Angry Black Woman stereotype. So offensive. What on earth were they thinking? I re-watched the film to get he stage version out of my head.

Miguel Angel Santos from London, England

DISAPPOINTING

We were very excited to see the adaptation of Harper Lee’s but walked out of the theater very disappointed. Two essential reasons. First, the producers decided to replicate the structure of having the kids’ voices narrating the events; that works well in the book, but comes across as awkward and unnecessary in a play. Moreover, it destroys the experience of theater for viewers, which is based on the suspense and reflections needed to make sense of the play across scenes. Second, the producers have filled the play with little silly jokes, that come to destroy the highest emotional peaks created in the play - to no one’s benefit. They have plagued the crucial moments of the play with silly jokes that reduce the tension and destroy the momentum. Aside from that, the performances are ok - not outstanding, not poor - but the three hours seem to long for what they have to offer, and the whole event is somewhat tedious.

Tania from London, England

COULDN'T UNDERSTAND THE ACCENT

I am a regular theatre goer and never been disappointed with West End shoes. Up to now. The American accent was very strong, could understand only about 30%, the story telling is not clear, hence such low mark.

Lee from London, England

OLDEST 6 YEAR OLD YOU’LL EVER SEE !!!

Oh dear ! What on earth were The Producers thinking. They have, unbelievably, completely missed everything about this book that has made it so universally loved. CAST: FULLY GROWN ADULTS playing a 6 yo and a 10 yo (Scout & Jem) DOES NOT WORK !!! (Just take that in … twenty-somethings playing a 6 year-old and a 10 year-old !!!). Calpurnia seems to have been turned from a strong, resilient woman to a racial stereotype (ironic!). Acting, in general, seemed a little start-of-run unassuredness rather than nearing-the-end-of-run confidence. ACCENTS: Other reviewers saying that it doesn’t matter that accents ‘slipped’. It is not JUST an accent. Hearing THAT accent in relation to the issues addressed conjures a certain atmosphere and lends more to a production than just how the dialogue sounds. But that’s just it; the Producers just don’t get the nuances and passions in the book and so have none in their production. I paid to see a dramatisation of a classic, not some drama-teacher’s interpretation !! Maybe I caught the play on a bad night but from what I saw, the Producers should apologise to Harper Lee

Steph Carter from London, England

DISAPPOINTING

We were really looking forward to seeing this. Firstly the accents....? From the most moment they were shocking, unconvincing adults playing children has worked well in other shows..Blood Brothers , Matilda but here it just missed the mark. The stage was overcrowded and acting whilst scenery moved felt " messy". Loved Matthew Modine but sad to say we left after first half so as not to totally ruin our love of the book.

Thatcher Cardon from London, England (on holiday from the US)

HOPEFUL ANTI-RACIST NOVEL PROFANED.

This was a shameful perversion of the original. What was a hopeful book that championed dignity and restraint and general goodness was twisted by Sorkin to be a dark tension=fueling disgrace. Sorkin convicts and kills Robinson where Lee aquits and saves him. Sorkin makes Atticus a flawed, disrespected foil for being kind and tolerant where Lee championed goodness to the end. I wanted to scream.

Matt Magee from London, England

A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT

I really felt for the actors as they were doing their best with what was to my mind an adaptation that completely missed the mark in terms of tone, character and emotional depth. Cheap laughs and shallow sentimentality wrenched out of wooden, one-dimensional characters; facile, superficial, and in the end boring - an invitation for the audience to stroke their egos and congratulate themselves on being on the correct side of the political divide rather than a meaningful rendering of what is a complex and poignant story. Any hint of what could be uncomfortable or unsettling in the subject matter was glossed over with unnecessary and inappropriate jokes, peppered with explicitly contemporary political opining, pulling us out clumsily of the 30s and into the 2022s. I was shocked at the standing ovation — self-indulgent tosh, from the audience. Mob inanity — the cast did their best with it and hats off to them for giving it a go but as a work of art it did not hang together at all.

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