Page 47 - 2018 Festival Edition

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
HUNTER SMALLEY
AS DILL AND
CLARA POPPY KUSHNIR AS SCOUT IN
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.
PHOTO BY DAVID HOU.
Starting last year with artistic director Antoni Cimolino’s request to direct the work and the beginning of rehearsals in March, he said the creative process has been both challenging and positive. He also credits the collaborative e orts of de- signer Denyse Karn, lighting designer Michelle Ramsay, composer Alessandro Juliani and sound designer Verne Good.
“I’ve worked with Denise on many occasions and,
for this show, she has done some deep research into
this time period,” he said. “The costumes and clothing are so beautiful, bringing
out the feel of 1935. Bring- ing the physical structure of Maycomb to life on stage was a fantastic challenge.
“It had to be theatrical, for example a picket fence with the only real anchors a swing
glider and tree. Michelle’s lighting is brilliant and, with the e orts of this talented team, we have hopefully brought 1935 Alabama to life, with something of a fresh look.”
He said it was essential to have di cult conversations with the company to place them in another world. So there were numerous discussions focusing on racism, misogyny, patriarchy, the South’s history, Jim Crow laws and segregation.
Understandably, the crew found it hard to comprehend the ideology of racism in a time before a civil rights movement and how normalized it was. The hope of freedom of thought and will for black Americans and women was just non-existent.
“There is still a great amount of learning to do, to let in people of colour and wom- en and see everyone as equal. All are given the right to live as people on this planet,” said Williams. “I hope audience members come away with a sense of having learned something about that time and possibly even today.”
Turning to the novel’s dramatization and inherent challenges any adaptation faces, like encapsulating the points raised through the relationship between Scout and Atticus, he said Sergel retained “the motor of the novel.” The actors strive to bring out social tensions of the time while concentrating on the trauma the young girl endures having to act older than her years.
“I’m a collaborator, concise and precise in the way I want to direct this play and bring out its themes” he said. “Conversations with Jonathan and the acting company have been collaborative. I hear other points of view and am pleased to know we are very close in our thinking.
“We agree if we are to tell this story in 2018, we have to tackle these issues head on, not soften them or be saccharine about the subject matter. Atticus has morality readily available and is interested in his learning curve. He is confronted with his conscience by the most innocent of characters – a young girl.
“It’s Scout asking the most di cult questions, so Jonathan and I feel that in these moments he has to confront the way he feels. This makes him a human being and a single father but not necessarily an icon of our ages.”
With the opening set for 2 p.m. on June 2 at the Festival Theatre, Williams said he defines success that day mirrored by the pride he feels towards cast, his stage man- agement team and all those involved in the production.
“We will be successful if we tell a really challenging story in a beautifully theatrical way,” he said. “I’d love to know the audience is taken by all of this, emotionally con- nected to it and ready to engage in deep conversations after the final curtain call.
“Then I’ll feel a genuine sense of creative pride. I’ll be satisfied to walk away and let the company take the play from there. In theatre, you form family quickly and for a short period of time. When a play opens, you know the time has arrived for the family to enjoy its independence.”
THE BEACON HERALD | 2018 FESTIVAL EDITION
PAGE 47