Page 46 - 2018 Festival Edition

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Tackling challenging moral issues
N
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
ABILITY CHOICE FREEWILL OPPORTUNITY LIBERTY RELEASE REDEMPTION ABILITY CHOICE FREEWILL OPPORTUNITY LIBERTY RELEASE REDEMPTION
GEOFF DALE
Special to The Beacon Herald
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel
To Kill a Mockingbird, published 58 years ago, is still relevant today, says the director bringing the dramatization of the acclaimed work to the Stratford Festival’s centre stage this season.
“One of the major issues we’re dealing with now is sys- temic racism still around in North America and throughout the world,” said first-time Stratford director Nigel Shawn Williams. “Hate can still rule us, is taught and passed down through generations.
“After the shootings earlier this year in Parkland, Fla., we
see the young generation giving us hope for a change. With
To Kill a Mockingbird, characters live in a mid-1930s world
tainted by racism. They have to live through the trauma, envi-
sion a di erent world, see people di erently and not the way they were taught by their surroundings.”
Written by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird’s plot and characters are loosely based on her observations of family, neighbours and an event that happened near her hometown of Monroeville, Ala., in 1936, when she was 10 years old. The story is told by Scout Jean Louise Finch, six years old in the beginning and nine by the end, and set in the fictional community of Maycomb.
The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, is a white lawyer defending a falsely accused black man, Tom Robinson. He has served
JONATHAN GOAD (CENTRE) AS ATTICUS FINCH WITH MEMBERS OF THE COMPANY IN TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. PHOTO BY DAVID HOU.
NIGEL SHAWN WILLIAMS
as a moral hero for countless readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers over the decades. In 1962, the novel was adapted as a film, winning three Oscars, with the best-actor nod going to Gregory Peck (Atticus).
In the 1990s, Christopher Sergel dra- matized the work for presentation with Scout appearing as an adult narrator.
With three Dora Mavor Moore Awards for outstanding acting performances, six onstage appearances at Stratford and di- rection of several productions in Canadi- an theatres, the award-winning Williams
sounds more than eager to embrace his Stratford directorial debut.
“I’m aware of the iconic nature of the characters and the novel,” he said. “But I will
tackle this as I would any play by looking at the story, characters and relationships and how they a ect us as human beings. As a director, I always view a play and ask myself why we are telling the story now.
“The novel’s film and stage adaptations are very di erent. All its information needs to be truncated into a two-and-a-half-hour play. That, in and of itself, was a challenge for Christopher Sergel. I look at the story and how the characters are being a ected by events in the story, trying to make it relatable for people now.”
While taking on the directorial role, he believes his numerous experiences as an actor – whether on stage, film or television – should prove beneficial as he tackles the iconic To Kill a Mockingbird.
“I hope it helps me,” he said. “One reason I started directing was to give back the creative process to the actor as an artist. I understand that process, so I have the ca- pacity and empathy for the great courage actors demonstrate. There are emotional costs in portraying these characters and bringing life to them.
“I trust my years as an actor makes me a more sensitive director. I feel blessed to have such a talented cast with which to work. Jonathan Goad (Atticus), Irene Poole (Scout), Matthew G. Brown (Tom Robinson), Tim Campbell (Heck Tate), Jonelle Gunderson (Mayella Ewell), Randy Hughson (Bob Ewell) and Joseph Ziegler (Judge Taylor) – you couldn’t ask for better.”
continued on page 47
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JOHN NATER, MP Perth—Wellington www.johnnater.ca 519-273-1400
“ Here to Serve”
PAGE 46
THE BEACON HERALD | 2018 FESTIVAL EDITION