To Kill A Mockingbird
Jubilee Hall
Last Thursday


Stories are rooted in a particular time and place, and it is that very specificity that makes them universal. The more detailed a setting is, the more authentic the work feels and the greater the connection with the audience.
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is set in the American South in the 1930s. It was a time when defending a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman was either the act of a courageous man or a fool.
Lawyer Atticus Finch was no fool but a man of uncommon decency and we see events unfold through the eyes of his daughter, six-year-old Scout.
This two-hour-15-minute production takes the gamble of unmooring the story from its social context with its minimalist staging and costume choices.
There were ramps on both sides of the stage and in the centre, a flight of stairs leading to a platform, all in black.
The costumes were not meant to evoke 1930s American South, but functioned as shorthand characterisation – Scout was a tomboy as she was in overalls and Atticus was a gentleman as he wore a blazer.
The multitude of accents sported by the cast also contributed to the amorphous setting.
This meant that those not familiar with the story would have to work much harder to come to grips with it.
It also meant that a lot was riding on the performances of the actors.
Mockingbird is essentially about Scout’s journey and loss of innocence. In this crucial role, Malaysian Lum Kay Li, 23, performing in Singapore for the first time, did a fine job with a natural and convincing portrayal of a spunky girl.
Less successful was Kun Wai Kit as Jem, Scout’s 10-year-old brother. He mistook exaggerated twitching and petulance for youth, making it seem as though Jem was Scout’s little brother.
Veteran actor Gerald Chew’s Atticus was appropriately paternal if a little distant. He also lacked the moral gravitas of Gregory Peck in his Oscar-winning turn in the 1962 film, although Peck admittedly set a very high bar.
The use of an older Scout (Yeo Yann Yann) reflecting on the past was a device that helped to compress the novel into a more streamlined structure.
The result, however, was a play that seemed to be preachier than the book, concerned with Lessons To Learn about empathy and doing the right thing. Important lessons, no doubt, but ones that would have made a stronger impression with a defter touch.
Ultimately, this Bird managed to take flight, but did not soar.
(ST)