Theater prepares for next show ʻTo Kill a Mockingbirdʼ premieres at Pierce May 1

SHARLA SMITH Roundup Reporter @sharlamsmith

Art will imitate life as racial inequality is examined in the upcoming play “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which opens on Friday, May 1 in the Performance Art Building. The play, adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Harper Lee, will be the first performance on the main stage since the completion of the theater renovations. Director Rozsa Horvath said the play is a great choice to christen the stage.

“We are reopening this theater, and I think it’s a great play to try out in it,” Horvath said. “It’s very timely with all the stuff that is going on in the news right now.”

The book was published in 1960 and adapted into a highly acclaimed film. It has also graced the stages of many theaters in the world. The story is set in Alabama during the Great Depression and is told through the memories of a young girl named Scout. Life changes when her father, a lawyer, is asked to defend a black man for the rape of a young white girl, which doesn’t sit well with people in their small town.

Set designer Gene Putnam said there was a lot of research done on Alabama towns in the 1930s. The use of railings in the set scenery is to remind the audience of the courtroom, as it is a central scene in the show.