To Kill a Mockingbird

Regardless of where you’re from, it’s likely the words To Kill a Mockingbird trigger memories of secondary-school reading assignments, or perhaps a flashback to the Oscar-winning 1964 film adaptation starring Gregory Peck. To be honest, it’s a little hard to imagine reproducing the American South’s 1930s racial tensions here; Singapore hasn’t had major problems with race-related conflict since the violent 1964 riots. But Harper Lee needn’t worry: her immortal novel – dramatised by Christopher Sergel – is in the safe hands of multitalented local producer Sharon Ang and acclaimed British director Christopher Jacobs.

The play offers the perfect opportunity to reacquaint yourself with this harrowing tale of racial injustice through the eyes of six-year-old Scout Finch and her brother Jem. When their attorney father Atticus agrees to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, their sleepy community reveals its true colours as the children learn some harsh – and at times violent – lessons about human nature. In this adaptation, Jacobs faces the challenge of translating Lee’s groundbreaking work into a drama with universal appeal; accordingly, the play unfolds in a generic town that could just as easily be Ang Mo Kio as Alabama. Though this is Jacobs’ directorial debut in Singapore, his 40-odd years of international theatre experience (including directing a production of Kafka’s Metamorphosis) should enable him to portray the stark reality of living in a multiracial community with an unsurpassed level of professionalism.

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