To Kill a Mocking Bird

Theatre Royal, Norwich

Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 18 October 2006

To Kill a Mockingbird

You never really understand a person till you climb into his skin.

This is the story of two mockingbirds. The one, a gentle simple recluse who saves the lives of the two children who, efectively, tell the story.

The other is a black man, falsely accused of raping a white woman and found guilty in prejudiced small-town America, who dies escaping jail.

It’s also about putting a popular school set text on the stage with a cast of actors who shine without exception and a set that deserves applause, moving from outside porches to a hot steamy courthouse.

Equally it is about reminding us with a jolt that assumption of guilt and skin colour can still go together.

It’s a chance for Duncan Preston to put aside his comic idiocy in TV’s “Dinner Ladies” and give us a compelling lawyer who just can’t give in.

It is an opportunity to see a convincing Vinta Morgan as the black man victim and Sally Tatum as his perfectly pitiful white woman accuser.

A stylish black and white story that’s not so straightforward, it leaves a feeling of discomfort yet admiration: of emotion with inspiration. See it.