Put simply, we may be rooting for him, but, in fact, he too is in the dock. What value is a noble-minded faith in “the system”, if the system is structured on the kind of supremacism we hear in its ugliest form in the brazen racism of the alleged victim, Mayella Ewell and her violent father, Bob? The N-word is used in vicious abundance, and Sorkin has woven in extreme alt-right sentiments found on Breitbart.
In Sorkin’s reading, Finch dissuades Robinson from a guilty plea that would entail a lengthy prison sentence but no more. Our hero confidently presses ahead to uphold his client’s innocence. And in so doing reveals his own ignorance about the unswerving prejudice of the world as Robinson and other African-Americans – like Finch’s household cook, Calpurnia – experience it. The brilliance of this approach is registered in the sophistication of Spall’s performance, which gives us a hypnotic understated poise and lofty cogitation but suggests, for all his impassioned appeals for societal change, that he’s too much at one remove .
The near three hours fly by. Directed by Bartlett Sher, this is one of those evenings when it’s impossible to see the joins between the vision of the script and the intricacy of the staging. Every characterisation is beautifully rendered amid Miriam Buether’s derelict warehouse space, allowing transitions around the fictional town of Maycomb.
Gwyneth Keyworth’s likeably scowling and bold Scout shares the darting narration with her brother Jem – Harry Redding making an astonishing professional debut of fresh-faced self-possession, with David Moorst impeccable as their gawkily genial pal Dill. There’s comedy afoot when the trio are around, but their loss of innocence is freighted with pathos.
Jude Owusu’s solemn, sorrowful Tom Robinson breaks your heart, and Pamela Nomvete’s Calpurnia speaks volumes with every reproachful questioning look. Credit where it’s due: Poppy Lee Friar almost steals the show with her snake-coiling and hissing turn as the malicious Mayella Ewell, while Patrick O’Kane is unforgettably full-blooded as her brutal, odious father. Watch out too for Harry Attwell as the mysterious recluse Boo Radley; did he kill Ewell? Over to you.
Booking until Aug 13; tokillamockingbird.co.uk
