![]() Dubose, played by Patricia Spencer Smith, was cantankerous and opinionated, but Atticus taught Jem to see that she was also lonely and ailing. Level headed from start to nearly finish, Fiske’s portrayal clearly showed the introspective nature of every position Atticus took throughout the play. Through Fiske’s towering figure, Atticus stayed grounded in his moral compass as well as in a sense of duty to do what’s right even when it was hard or impossible to win. Lessons instilled in them by their father and the play’s main focus of examination and mystery, Atticus Finch as played by Richard Fiske. ![]() Brenda Parker (Calpurnia), Olivia McMahon (Scout), and Frank Riley III (Rev. Exuberantly present, Scout, along with her brother Jem, played by Jack Kearney, and new friend Dill, played by Nathaniel Burkhead, made up a rag-tag team of trouble, curiosity, bravery, and compassion that forced the adults of the play to remember what makes each of us human. Jean Louise’s younger self “Scout,” played by Olivia McMahon, was anything but dreamy or retrospective. Never forceful or without purpose, Dunlap’s delivery balanced an actor’s difficultly to break the fourth wall and the narrators need to do just that. Dunlap’s voice and misty looks told us stories of the people on stage, of the times, and of the struggles of a little girl to understand. The lighting low and her voice taking on the sing-song quality one associates with the South, the older Jean Louise’s narration was a thread running in and out of the entire performance. With the Finch’s house on the left and Boo Radley’s house on the right, a grown Jean Louise Finch played by Melissa Dunlap walked dreamily out to down center stage. Richard Fiske (Atticus) and Olivia McMahon (Scout). ![]() With such an undercurrent undoubtedly in the cast and crew’s ears, the pressure must have been both exhilarating and utterly nerve-wracking as they prepared to put not only themselves but the audience into someone else’s shoes. The audience’s low murmur while waiting for the lights to dim was unmistakably attentive and anticipatory. Walking in to the theater opening night, it was safe to say most in attendance had read, watched, or seen this story before. Nestled into a quiet corner of Old Town Alexandria, the production of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird (adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel) at The Little Theatre of Alexandria was quietly powerful and thought provoking.
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