NewtownREADS Concluded

With Drama At Meeting House

By Shannon Hicks

Douglas MacHugh directed a mock trial/dramatic performance at Newtown Meeting House last weekend that served as the final event of NewtownREADS, the two-month series of programs and book discussions related to Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Two performances were offered on Saturday, April 28; one during the afternoon and a second later that evening. The Newtown resident, who is an acting instructor at Sarah Lawrence College, pulled together the perfect group of performers for the special event. It was a spectacular performance, with many people seen talking in clusters outside the meeting house, walking along the Main Street sidewalks, and certainly during the post-evening performance reception.

The evening performance drew a full crowd, and the afternoon’s performance reportedly drew at least two-thirds of a house. No one went away disappointed.

As ticket-holders filed into the meeting house Saturday evening, the historic building at the top of Church Hill Road had dimmed lights and many of the evening’s actors were already in character for their performance.

There was Scot Wilson as Reverend Sykes, sitting in a pew next to Meghan Davis, Patrick Sullivan, and Reid Higham, who were portraying Scout and Jem Finch and their summertime friend Charles Reid (Dill) Harris.

The jurors were portrayed by Newtown residents — all men, of course — and they were seated in the front row. Seated behind the jurors were women in their bonnets and men in their work clothes.

Bailiff Cliff Kraich walked back and forth across the front of the room, visiting occasionally with Atticus Finch (Nathan LeGrand) and Mr Gilmer (John Sullivan), the evening’s prosecutor. Seated next to Mr Gilmer was the court recorder (Mary Lou Sullivan).

A dimming of the lights quieted the crowd, and then out of the back of the “courtroom” (the audience had been instructed to count themselves as participants in the evening by responding as townspeople with appropriate noises to the testimony on as it unfolded) came the beautiful voice of Tonya Edmonds. Confidently, she sang Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” transforming those gathered to 1935 Maycomb, Ala.

Julie Stern, the evening’s narrator and the adult voice of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, then completed the transformation, setting the state: a courtroom, where one Tom Robinson (Freedome Bradley) was on trial, charged with raping Miss Mayella Ewell (portrayed with brilliant intensity by SarahZane Moore). Mayella’s father, Robert E. Lee “Bob” Ewell, was the riveting Sterling Swann.

Judge William Lavery seemed to have serious fun with his portrayal of Judge Taylor, and while most people didn’t see him, even Arthur “Boo” Radley was in attendance on Saturday. Bradley Harris offered an almost ghostly portrayal of Boo, appearing only a few times in the balcony of the meeting house.

For nearly an hour, those seated in the pews at Newtown Meeting House were immersed in the proceedings of the trial. Even knowing what the end of the hour would bring did not take away from the powerful performances unfolding before them.

The courtroom portion of the evening closed after Atticus gave his closing remarks. After Julie Stern read her closing narrative, relating that Tom had been found guilty and eventually killed while fleeing from prison guards, Onye Anyanwu stepped to the front of the meeting house. Dressed in a simple black dress and a large white hat and a shawl, Ms Anyanwu offered another Billie Holiday song, “Strange Fruit.” First responding with an awed silence, the audience quickly followed Ms Anyanwu’s poignant performance with a standing ovation.

NewtownREADS began in early March when volunteers began handing out 2,000 copies of To Kill A Mockingbird, and continued through Saturday’s performances at the meeting house. The programs and selection of this year’s NewtownREADS book was handled by Friends of Booth Library.

Between March 2 and April 28, there were book discussions with varying focuses, a screening of the 1962 Academy Award-winning film starring Gregory Peck at Edmond Town Hall (introduced and followed with commentary by film historian Jack Leopold), and even a special program by Harper Lee biographer Charles Shields.

There were also occasional sightings of children and young adults — at least nine of them — brave enough to wear a ham costume created by Joanne Keane, bringing to life one pivotal scene from Ms Lee’s book.