'To Kill a Mockingbird' will make Wisconsin premiere in Appleton with Emmy winner Richard Thomas in lead role
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APPLETON – A stage adaptation of the beloved literary classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" will make its Wisconsin premiere at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Tuesday.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" tells the story of Atticus Finch, a white lawyer in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, defending Tom Robinson, a Black man who is falsely accused of rape. The stage adaptation, written by Aaron Sorkin — whose writing credits include the television series "The West Wing" and films "A Few Good Men" and "The Social Network" — premiered on Broadway in 2018 and first began touring last March.
Unlike Harper Lee's 1960 novel, which tells the story through the eyes of Atticus's daughter Scout, Sorkin's play makes Atticus the primary narrator. The actor playing Atticus, Richard Thomas, told the Post-Crescent this switch allows audiences to see a literary icon through a more human lens.
"What Aaron (Sorkin) has done so beautifully is really taken Atticus off his pedestal," Thomas said. "He's taken his sort of white knight patina and rubbed it off and given him a narrative where he is much more vulnerable. And I think we know him much more as a human being, rather than just as a figure of virtue."
Thomas has an extensive career in television and theater. In 1973, he won an Emmy Award for his role as John-Boy Walton in the television show "The Waltons." He has played Atticus for the duration of the national tour, taking the show to cities around the country for nearly a year now.
"One of the advantages of touring is that you really get to do a play for a long period of time and really investigate it. And not all plays bare such long term investigation ... but this one really does," Thomas said. "It's very exciting to be living with this text over a long period of time, because a really great text will continue to reveal itself to you and will continue to add insights about the character or the subject matter."
"To Kill a Mockingbird" has resonated with audiences since the book was released in 1960. Its focus on racial injustice made waves at the height of the civil rights movement and has remained a staple in classroom discussions about a dark side of American history in the decades since.
"It's about childhood and growing up and these wonderful characters," Thomas said. "It's a very touching story about loss of innocence, and also about our heritage, which is ... our story in terms of our relationship with race and justice, and our history. It's funny and sad and challenging and thought-provoking."
Besides expanding on Atticus's character, he said the stage adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird" also builds the characters of Tom Robinson and Calpurnia, the Finch's cook. And it portrays the subject matter of race and social justice in a "more explicit" way that allows audiences to see it through their contemporary lens "without sacrificing the authenticity of the time and the place," Thomas said.
"It feels like, unfortunately almost, the perfect time to be bringing this particular story around the country, in such a good version," he said.
The cast comprises 24 actors. Among those is Mary Badham, who played Scout in the 1962 film, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. At the time, Badham at 10 years old was the youngest person ever to be nominated. In this show, she plays Mrs. Dubose, the Finches' racist neighbor.
Thomas said he is looking forward to coming to Appleton. He previously performed at the Fox Cities PAC in December 2006 as part of "Twelve Angry Men," and has since hoped to return.
"In fact, when I toured a play called "The Humans" about four or five years ago, I was very disappointed that Appleton wasn't on the route. I don't know, I just liked it, I liked the vibe," Thomas said. "It was enchanting, and I spent a good deal of time at Cleo's, which was really nice."
Tickets for "To Kill a Mockingbird" can be purchased online through Ticketmaster, by phone at 800-982-2787 or through the Fox Cities PAC ticket office in-person or by phone at 920-730-3760. The PAC ticket office is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: 'To Kill a Mockingbird' will make Wisconsin premiere at Fox Cities PAC
