"To Kill a Mockingbird" April 6
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, a stage version of "To Kill a Mockingbird" will be presented by the Montana Repertory Company on the Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College main campus on Monday, April 6.
The performance will take place at 8 p.m. in Wallman Hall Theatre. For tickets, which are $20, call the Box Office: (304) 367-4240. FSU and Pierpont students receive one free ticket.
Lee's novel, which is now celebrating the 50th anniversary of its publication, was brought to the screen in an Academy Award-winning adaptation by Horton Foote in 1962 and was later adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel. Though over 35 years old, this stage adaptation continues to compel and delight viewers worldwide with its warmth, wit and wisdom.
The story of "To Kill a Mockingbird" is set in a sleepy Southern town in the 1930s, as Atticus Finch, an attorney and the widowed father of two young children, stands against his fellow townspeople by defending a young black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Finch instills in his children the traditional moral values of honesty, courage, integrity, respect for others, and above all, responsibility for one's actions. Finch tells his son that courage is "when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what."
Established as the theatre in residence at the School of Fine Arts at The University of Montana, Montana Repertory Theatre has been providing top-quality theatre to audiences across the country since 1968. Past seasons have included works by Tennessee Williams, Wendy Wasserstein, Neil Simon, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, Horton Foote, Ken Ludwig and William Gibson. Montana Rep continues to tell the great stories of our world and examine the heart of the American character.
"Like many other 14-year olds of my generation, I was asked to read "To Kill a Mockingbird' over my summer vacation," said Greg Johnson, Artistic Director, Montana Repertory Theatre.
"Sitting on the warm sand of the Jersey shore, about to embark on my high school career, I cracked the binding of Harper Lee's incredible story about Scout, Tom Robinson, Boo Radley and Atticus Finch, and instantly fell in love...in love with the poetry of the language, with the sassiness of Scout, the quiet dignity of Tom, the mystery of Boo, and ultimately with the courage of Atticus. He was the father we all wanted. This is the story we all grew up with. My life changed in that summer of '62. I would never again look at prejudice, intolerance, the South or family with the same eyes.
"All grown up now, I am fortunate, thanks to Christopher Sergel's honest and compelling adaptation, to reacquaint myself with this quintessential American tale and to once again share it with our audiences."
