To Kill A Mockingbird – The Lowry, Salford

Writer: Harper Lee 

Adapter: Playwright: Aaron Sorkin 

Director: Bartlett Sher 

 A review of Harper Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning novel once read that it “will change your life, it will change the way you view the world around you, it will inspire you, it will make you rethink how you treat people, how you view the world”. Praise indeed for a book that is taught in every high school across both sides of the Atlantic. It is no wonder, then, that this production, beginning life on Broadway in 2018 before transferring to Lonon in 2022, is selling out every venue it tours throughout 2025-26.  

To Kill A Mockingbird needs little introduction. On most syllabuses it is a literary classic difficult to have never had any contact with. The name Atticus Finch has become a short form for inspiration or goodness. Its themes of racial inequality and empathy have seeped into the collective consciousness as if by osmosis. Likewise, audiences feel drawn to experience this recent version adapted by Oscar winning screenplay writer Aaron Sorkin. It has become something of a theatrical phenomenon attracting not just parties of A Level students. 

In the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, Atticus Finch (played in this performance by John J. O’Hagan) is appointed to defend a black man, Tom Robinson (Aaron Shosanya), who is accused of raping a young white woman Mayella Ewell (Evie Hargreaves). Undeterred in the face of a jury of twelve white men from the town, Finch’s Sisyphean task becomes the driving force of the plot: an unwavering belief that truth, justice and goodness will prevail over lies and prejudice. 

Sorkin keeps true to the novel by appointing Finch’s daughter, Scout (Anna Munden), to act as narrator. Joined by her brother Jem (Gabriel Scott) and new boy in town Dill (Dylan Malyn), they cross the divide between memory and present action; narration and interaction. It is a device that works extremely efficiently and with humour. Bartlett Sher’s production has a running time close to three hours including interval but there is nothing laboured. Scenes bleed into one another as we move from courtroom to courtyard, prison to porch. Miriam Buether’s set design allows verandas, witness stands and prison doors to slide in and out with minimal fuss as the story and memories take us back and forth like the breeze in the air. 

This is a powerful piece of drama and, as such, requires powerful performances. As righteous as Finch is, he is matched by the monstrous father of the alleged victim Bob Ewell (Oscar Pearce) who spits bile with everything he says. He is matched by his seemingly timid daughter and accuser of Tom Robinson who, in an excellent scene in the courtroom by Hargreaves, bursts into similar language and venom when pushed by Finch – a symptom of the cyclical nature of a racist upbringing. It must be noted that this is a 12+ production as the use of necessary offensively racist language is not excused. In this performance, Atticus Finch was played by John J. O’Hagan. He embodies the goodness that roots Atticus whilst, all the while, suppressing the natural and just rage that should be bursting from his core. The programme notes address the problematic concerns the book has navigated over the seventy-five years it has been published – that of a white saviour narrative and the fact that the black characters at the heart of the injustice are almost silent. Sorkin has consciously increased the role of Calpurnia (Andrea Davy) – the Finch’s family black housekeeper and maternal figure to the children after the death of their mother. There is an excellent side-narrative focusing on Calpurnia’s passive aggression towards Atticus’ unconscious bias or micro aggression that is just as powerful as the court scene in terms of the dissection of society’s prejudice – conscious or otherwise.

Sorkin and Sher’s production packs punches. It must in a Trump era that has raised ugly questions about racial inequality and immigration that has been present in American society since its birth. Harper Lee’s courtroom drama, set in 1934, seems as relevant today as it did when she wrote it in 1960 and the last words of the piece, “All Rise” decried by Scout is an unapologetic call to action. 

 Runs until 24th January 

Tours until 23rd May 2026