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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008><SPAN class=664385715-01022008> Fred, PLEASE post
this review on NEOhioPAL </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>Here
is our first "To Kill A Mockingbird" review - it's in today's
News-Herald. <SPAN
class=664385715-01022008> We</SPAN> <SPAN
class=664385715-01022008> REALLY </SPAN> hope you can come see
us!</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>Take
care,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>Cindi
(Verbelun) :-)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>Lose
Any Prejudice toward Another "Mockingbird"</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>Hot on
the heels of Lakeland's production, GLTG's production worth seeing,
too.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>By:
Bob Abelman</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008><A
href="mailto:correspondent@news-herald.com">correspondent@news-herald.com</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>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.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>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.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>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. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>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. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>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. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>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.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008>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.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>Cindi
Verbelun is flat-out charming as ever-vigilant and observing Miss Maudie, the
play's narrator. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008>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.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>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.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=906342015-01022008>Plays
like "To Kill A Mockingbird" are always worth seeing. When done as well as
this GLTG production, they are worth seeing again.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=906342015-01022008><EM>"To Kill A Mockingbird" continues through Feb.
10</EM> <EM>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 <A
href="http://www.geaugatheater.org">www.geaugatheater.org</A> . </EM></SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>