[NEohioPAL] Great "To Kill A Mockingbird" Review at GLTG - in today's News-Herald

[Cindi]

 Fred, PLEASE post this review on NEOhioPAL

Here is our first "To Kill A Mockingbird" review - it's in today's
News-Herald.   We  REALLY  hope you can come see us!

Take care,
Cindi (Verbelun) :-)



Lose Any Prejudice toward Another "Mockingbird"

Hot on the heels of Lakeland's production, GLTG's production worth seeing,
too.

By: Bob Abelman
correspondent at news-herald.com

When you see a play for a second time within a four-month period, you hope
either to witness an innovative interpretation, or see some stand-out
individual performances.  The current staging of "To Kill A Mockingbird" by
Geauga Lyric Theater Guild, following on the heals of Lakeland Community
College's production, offers both.

Based on the Pulizer Prize winning novel by Harper Lee, "To Kill A
Mockingbird" is set in the racially intolerant 1930s Alabama. It's a
coming-of-age story about Scout Finch and her brother, Jem, as they watch
their father valiantly defend an innocent black man against charges of
sexually assaulting a white woman.

Both productions serve up Christopher Sergel's adaptation of Harper Lee's
work, which removes Scout as a narrative voice and offers an abridged but
wordy version of the narrative classic. Pierre-Jacques Brault, director of
the GLTG production, embraces this minimalist approach by placing the show
within a very simple set, where doors denote domicles, and assorted pieces
of furniture are representative of the people who inhabit them.

This works beautifully at the small playhouse in Chardon, particularly
because all 15 actors are sitting onstage throughout the performance and
become part of the scenery. Players rise and spring into action on cue and
fade back into the collective backdrop at the end of their scenes.

This innovative staging, aided by Pat Fagan's lighting design, gives a nice
"Our Town" eerieness to the production, although actors occasionally need to
awkwardly navigate around one another. It also allows black cast members to
be a part of the white mob scene, which hints at the universal truths about
what is right and what is wrong in people.

A minimalist set does not mean a less authentic set. The wood used to create
the doors, door frames and flooring on the stage comes from a local home
that was recently demolished. The house was built during the 1930s. The set
could not be more authentic.

Neither could some of the performances in this production. Liz Jones  is an
absolutely remarkable Scout. She thoroughly embraces the aggressive tomboy
physicality that defines her character, seems genuinely inqusitive about the
complex world around her, and is in the moment every moment she is on stage.
Lincoln Sandham delivers and thoughtful and honest performance as Scout's
brother. His gentility perfectly compliments young Jone's portrayal.

Cindi Verbelun is flat-out charming as ever-vigilant and observing Miss
Maudie, the play's narrator.

Bolstered by a corps of colorful neighbors, wonderfully depicted by Civia
Wisner, Patricia Osredkar and others, Miss Maudie serves as a graceful
conduit between this troubled town and the audience.

John Hazard is fine as the iconic everyman attorney Atticus Finch, though he
lacks some of the debth and nuiance the difficult, textured role requires.
Darryl Lewis more than makes up for this in his stirring portrayal of the
falsely accused Tom Robinson. Nothing more effectively drives home the
strong moral message of this play than seeing a man of significant physical
stature reduced to little more than his integrity and quivering
vulnerability.

Plays like "To Kill A Mockingbird" are always worth seeing. When done as
well as this GLTG production, they are worth seeing again.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" continues through Feb. 10 in the Geauga Theater, 101
Water St., Chardon. For tickets, which at $10.00 for students and $12.00 for
adults, (440) 286-2255 or visit www.geaugatheater.org .
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