MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — During a rehearsal of To Kill a Mockingbird, the cast reached Atticus Finch’s closing argument and had to stop.
Danny Nowlan, who plays Atticus, said the weight of the speech and the jury’s decision left the performers in tears. They took a break, hugged one another and returned to the scene.
“The entire cast had to stop,” Nowlan said during an interview on the BW Morning Show. “We just had to take a breath, hug it out, and let the gravity of the emotional weight of that scene kind of hit us all.”
Family Community Theatre will present the play Oct. 1-4 at the Flag Theatre in Hutchinson. Director Ben Jones said Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation goes deeper into Harper Lee’s novel than audiences who know only the film may expect.
Set in 1930s Alabama, the story follows Atticus as he defends Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman. Jones said the fictional case reflects the racism and injustice of the Jim Crow South. Some cast members knew the story well before rehearsals; others encountered it for the first time.
The production also gives young actors a prominent role in telling it. In the novel, Atticus’ daughter Scout narrates the story. Onstage, Scout, her brother Jem and their friend Dill help guide the audience through events, at times stopping the action to speak directly to them.
Elise Henry, an eighth grader at Sterling Junior High School, plays Scout. Jones said it is her first large role with the theater. She opens and closes the show, carries much of its narration and learned a Southern dialect for the part.
“She’s doing a phenomenal job taking on this role,” Jones said.
Jones also singled out Jonathan Trammel, a Hutchinson High School sophomore who plays Dill, for finding both humor and emotional depth in his character. He said casting the show required more than choosing strong individual performers: He also considered how actors would work together onstage.
Nowlan said the play’s historical themes remain relevant. Jones hopes audiences leave entertained, but also thinking about how they treat their neighbors.
The play includes mature subject matter and historically accurate language. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 1-3, with a 3 p.m. matinee Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Flag Theatre, 310 N. Main St. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and teenagers, and $5 for children. They are available at familycommunitytheater.org, Absolutely Home and Busy Bee Laundry, or at the box office beginning an hour before each performance.