Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor presents Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Bay Street co-founder Stephen Hamilton. The production runs November 9 through November 29.
The twelve-member cast will bring the residents of Maycomb, Alabama, to the Bay Street stage, with Kendra Foster McBride as Scout Finch, Ryan Schaeffer as Jem Finch, Matthew Schiavoni as Dill Harris, and J.Stephen Brantley as Atticus Finch.
Joining them are Judah Josiah Alexander Fabre as Tom Robinson, Erin Margaret Pettigrew as Calpurnia, Hope Hamilton as Mayella Ewell, Mitchell Cetuk as Bob Ewell, Matthew Conlon as Judge Taylor, Joe Pallister as Sheriff Heck Tate, Michael Santora as Horace Gilmer and Dr. Reynolds, and Kirk Koczanowski as Mr. Cunningham, Link Deas, and Boo Radley.
For director Stephen Hamilton, the production offers an opportunity to revisit a story whose themes remain deeply relevant. “There has never been a better time in this nation’s history for a re-examination of Harper Lee’s ‘Mockingbird,’ an essential chapter in the American cultural narrative,” Hamilton said. “And from Aaron Sorkin’s point of view, the conversation about the nature of evil, and the limits of individual morality is as pressing today — perhaps more so — than they were in 1960.”
Rather than unfolding simply as a childhood memory, Sorkin’s adaptation allows Scout, Jem, and Dill to look back on the events that shaped them. Their recollections take audiences into a community confronted by the trial of Tom Robinson and the choices, relationships, and prejudices surrounding it.
The result is a story that moves between memory and the immediacy of the courtroom, asking audiences to encounter familiar characters and events through the experience of live performance.
Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” is part of Bay Street Theater’s Literature Live! series. Literature Live! is Bay Street’s signature educational theater program, created specifically to bring important works of literature from the classroom to the stage for middle and high school students at no charge. These productions are chosen from the New York State Common Core curriculum to reinforce educational experiences. Performances are adapted in length and presentation to meet the needs of student audiences and include study guides and possible talkbacks.
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