Adapted by Christopher Sergel from
the novel by Harper Lee
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is one of the most enduring and best-loved stories of our time.
Written as an urgent plea for tolerance and compassion at the height of the Civil Rights movement, it
tells the story of Scout Finch as she grows up during the 1930s depression in the small town of
Maycomb, Alabama. Her childhood innocence is shattered when her father, Atticus Finch, defends a
young black man accused of rape.
THE VIEW FROM THE REHEARSAL ROOM
Assistant Director Ed Lewis gives us an insight into the rehearsal process for the Royal
Exchange Theatre production of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.
On our first day of rehearsals I remember the
Director, Max Webster, admitted to the Acting
Company, that although he had studied TO KILL A
MOCKINGBIRD at GCSE he had failed to open the
book until a few weeks before his exams!
However, he explained that when he did finally
pick up the book (as part of his serious cramming
sessions before the exam) he was instantly
enthralled by the characters and the story. There
is a reason why this story is one of the best selling
novels of all time: it is not a story that grows old or
tired.
However, if you were to take every detail of the
book and put it onstage, even the biggest
Mockingbird fan would get bored. So, the play
script - written by Christopher Sergel - takes this
great story and blends it into something that can
be experienced live on stage. Sergel condenses a
lot of the action, while keeping the key events, so
that we still keep the heart of the characters and
their story but we don’t end up having to spend
ten hours in the theatre!
I mention the novel because when you begin to
think of ideas for a production that uses a script
which has been adapted from a novel, then you
have to use both sources to come up with ideas.
Obviously, your ideas for staging the play have to
be a response to the script; however, you cannot
completely ignore the novel, as it may have more
detail or reveal something that the script does not.
Nigel Cooke as Atticus Finch and Shannon Tarbet
as Scout Finch (Photo - Jonathan Keenan)
The novel was certainly a great resource in our
first week of rehearsals. We all sat round a table
and went through the script slowly questioning and
interrogating the lines and the characters: what
are you doing, why are you doing it, what do you
want, where have you been and how has your
relationship with another character changed? In
most instances, a cast would get what they could
from the script and then invent anything that was
left unanswered together. However, when you
have a novel full of the details of these characters
lives you cannot ignore it. Furthermore, there have
been details within the book that we have
managed to put into the acting of the piece. For
example, in the book there is a clear point where
Scout says how she has noticed Jem growing up
and not playing with her as much as he used to.
This isn’t in the script, however when we were
working on the scene in winter where Old Tim, the
dog, gets shot by Atticus we noticed that Jem’s
behaviour with Scout is very different from in
previous scenes. He seems to order Scout around
more and tries to behave as though he is in
charge. We decided that this might be the point
where this change has happened. Knowing this
really helped Rupert (the actor playing Jem) and
allowed him to incorporate it as another level of
detail onto his performance.
The world of the book is an incredibly vivid one you can almost see Maycomb coming off the page.
However, each reader will have his or her own
ideas and imaginings of what Maycomb looks like.
This is a challenge when you come to staging a
book: how can you live up to everyone’s
expectations of what the book looks like in their
own head? With our production Max and James
Cotterill (the Designer) realised this challenge and
thought you could either go down two routes: it
could either be a completely realistic set or you
could take advantage of the fact that we are in a
theatre, a place where we imagine what we are
watching is real and strip the set back to the
essentials. In the end, for this production the
creative team chose a very minimalistic set.
With this minimalistic design we were then
presented with the challenge of representing the
community of Maycomb and the period of the
1930s in other ways onstage. Costume helps a lot
with showing an audience where the characters
are and which part of the community they are
from, however, getting this into the acting can be
more complex. Most shows at the Royal Exchange
rehearse for four weeks: so how were we going to
get a cast of 23 actors who had never met before
to represent a tightly knit community, in four
(l-r) James McConville as Dill, Shannon Tarbet as Scout Finch and Rupert Simonian as Jem Finch
(Photo - Jonathan Keenan)
weeks? In the rehearsal room we have done
several group exercises on movement and
physicality as well as just normal games like ‘tig’!
This might sound silly, but you would be surprised
how quickly a fast physical game can help to break
down inhibitions and bring people together.
One simple exercise we did was simply walking
and stopping all together at the same time, making
sure that no one is leading. It is a lot more difficult
than it sounds - to begin with people would try to
lead or the group would slowly wind down to stop
and slowly wind up to a start. But, after a few
minutes the group were stopping and starting
quickly and sharply and you had no idea who was
leading. This game meant that the actors had to
listen and be aware of not just themselves but also
everyone around them and it helped them to
develop a physical awareness and understanding
of each other. Games like these and other
exercises mean that in a very quick time you can
build a group of actors that can move and act
together as an ensemble.
Another key element which has helped to establish
the world and atmosphere of the production is
music. Music has a strange ability to instantly
transport an audience to another place. For
WHY NOT? Pick a scene from a play (or write
your own) that is particularly emotional and try
and find the right kind of music that supports
the scene. Try not to let the music take over
and make sure it is always there to back the
people onstage. Try different types of music
and see what different effects they have on the
scene.
example, if you were to hear swing music most
people immediately think of North America in the
1930s and 1940s. We have done the same; you
hear a banjo or a particular type of fiddle and you
know you are in the South of America, or you hear
a particular style of hymn and you know you are in
1930s God-fearing America.
The next layer that music can help with is
supporting the actors and contributing to the
atmosphere of a scene. In rehearsal we have been
practicing with adding a choir at church over the
top of Jem ripping up Mrs. Dubose’s camellias.
Although these two might seem slightly jarring, the
effect of hearing a spirited evangelical hymn whilst
a character is completely bursting with anger is
incredibly moving. Nevertheless, the danger of
using music like this is that it can become
emotionally manipulative and the audience end up
being more moved by the music than the action
onstage. The best way to avoid this is to think
about if it is needed and if it is supporting what is
happening onstage rather than overtaking it. Our
way around it so far has been to begin with the
choir humming the tune and slowly building into a
fully voiced song as the actor’s performance
crescendos. But, we are still tweaking it as we
move into the last week of rehearsals and I’m sure
we will continue tweaking and adjusting all parts of
the play through the next few weeks. For me,
watching how a production evolves and changes is
one of the most exciting things about creating one.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD runs at
the Royal Exchange Theatre from 20
February to 30 March 2013.
Box Office: 0161 833 9833
royalexchange.co.uk/mockingbird
WHY NOT? Get up on your feet and as a
group try walking and stopping together with no
one leading. Try to aim that by the end of the
exercise you can stop and start almost instantly.
WHY NOT? Pick your favourite book and try to
condense the story into a few key events that
can make a series of scenes.
WHY NOT? Compare the novel TO KILL A
MOCKINGBIRD with the play script. Try and
work out what events from the book are not in
the script.
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Introducing TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Tuesday 5 March, 10am – 12pm
Pre-show workshop for schools, groups and
individuals who have booked to see the show.
£8 / £6 (all concessions & group leaders);
Book on 0161 833 9833
In The Lounge
Thursday 21 March, 6 – 7pm
Join Max Webster, Director of TO KILL A
MOCKINGBIRD as he chats about this iconic 20th
century masterpiece and how it will be brought
to life for our stage.
FREE; no need to book