On Friday 23rd of January, 50 pupils from year 11 piled onto a coach and journeyed to Chichester. We went to see the Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of ‘To Kill Mockingbird’, the groundbreaking and literary classic written by Harper Lee.
‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is one of the exam texts that two of the year 11 English Literature classes are studying. Seeing the book in front of us visually in the form of a play was a fantastic opportunity for us to consolidate our knowledge on the plot, the key themes of the novel and the main characters. This is all essential information we need to understand and include in our English Literature exam.
I was thoroughly impressed with many aspects of the production. As a regular theatre-goer and performer, it was very inspiring seeing the company interpretation and approach to the play. The set was simplistic but symbolic: in the center of the stage was a large tree with a rope swing and tyre attached. This is featured on the front cover of the 50th anniversary edition of the book. A unique part of the set I really liked and enjoyed seeing was the actors drawing on the stage floor with chalk. A very creative idea; it caught the attention of the audience and brought alive the town of Maycomb (where the book is set). They drew paths, houses, and labelled who the houses belonged to.
Another part of the production that I thought was original and successful was the use of music and singing. It was a small cast of roughly 15 people.They switched from being narrators to putting on a piece of symbolic costume and becoming a character. One of the cast members had a guitar and a harmonica, and during transitions of scenes he played short interludes.This made the transitions to and from scenes smooth and was engaging and enjoyable for the audience. At another point in the play, when many characters were in a scene, whilst transitioning they all sang with the guitarist accompanying them. It was a lovely and unique touch.
The use of narration was highly beneficial for us as students in particular. The narrators (each holding copies of the book with various designed covers) dictated key quotes from the book throughout the play. In our exam we need to be able to use a large variety of key quotes from various characters. Hearing them read aloud whilst I saw the action of the plot in front of me really embedded the quotes into my mind.
I had a fantastic time on the trip and I believe the rest of the students did too.
By Charlotte Weller. Year 11.
