to kill a mockingbird - New Repertory Theatre

Classic Repertory Company
touring the classics to schools, colleges, & the community
STUDY GUIDE
artistic director jim petosa managing director harriet sheets
The Pulitzer-winning classic questioning morality and racial injustice.
to kill a mockingbird
LEAP
lifelong enrichment arts programs
adapted by Christopher Sergel
based on the novel by Harper Lee
public performances:
october 22, 10:00am & 7:30pm
Education Outreach Sponsors
Funded in part by generous individual contributors, Procter and Gamble,
Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Target Stores, Massachusetts
Cultural Council, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, Fuller Foundation,
and Watertown/Harvard Enrichment Fund.
Program Support provided by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.
new repertory theatre | administrative office | 200 dexter avenue | watertown, ma 02472

Contents
3 Harper Lee Biography
4 Book v. Play v. Movie
5 Controversy and To Kill a Mockingbird
6 - 7 Cast and Artistic Staff Bios
8 Other Literary One-Hit Wonders
9 Racism and Jim Crow Laws
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 2
10 Further Studies
10 Bibliography
11 Questionaire
Map of Alabama: Showing Lee’s Hometown
http://www.buildingthepride.com/faculty/tmhaggerty/
IMAGES/County%20and%20Seats.jpg
…before I can live with other
folks I’ve got to live with myself.
The one thing that doesn’t
abide by majority rule is a
person’s conscience.
Atticus Finch
to kill a mockingbird
*Classic Repertory Company’s production of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD maintains the original text/language of Harper Lee’s novel.

Harper Lee Biography
When you type “Harper Lee” into Google, the suggested searches include
“quotes,” “biography,” and “death.” The curiosity about whether or not Lee is
still alive (she is) is indicative of the fact that so little is known about her post-
To Kill a Mockingbird life. The elusive, enigmatic author has simply managed to
avoid the spotlight of media attention, despite having written one of the most
popular books in the world.
Nelle Harper Lee was born in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama on April
28, 1926. Her father, Amasa Coleman Lee, was a newspaper editor, lawyer, and
a member of the state legislature. Lee attended public school in town, and
then went on to the University of Alabama. After that, she went to law school.
However, she left the university one semester before graduation, and never
received a degree.
Harper Lee with a Student
http://uanews.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/
lee_farris_high_res.jpg
Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird over the course of about two years. It was
published in 1960, and immediately attracted a storm of attention. She said
she “never expected any sort of success with Mockingbird,” and that in fact, she
“didn’t expect the book to sell in the first place.” It did much more than that,
though. The original New York Times review of the book, published on July 10,
1960, complimented Lee’s “level-headed plea for interracial understanding,”
saying she wrote “with gentle affection, rich humor and deep understanding
of small-town family life in Alabama.” In 1961, the book won the Pulitzer Prize
for Fiction. Since then, it has been translated into over 40 languages, sold over
thirty million copies worldwide, and has never been out of print in hardcover
or paperback.
For Lee, though, the attention was unwelcome. Feeling like she was becoming
a celebrity, she retreated from the glare of the media and refused to give a
proper interview after 1964. She has gained the reputation of a recluse, but she
did not take after Boo Radley and hide in her home. For many years she has
attended public events and award ceremonies but declined to speak, saying
at one point, “It’s better to be silent than to be a fool.” Notably, she attends a
luncheon every year for winners of an essay contest about To Kill a Mockingbird.
At the age of 86, Lee currently lives in an assisted living facility in Monroeville,
Alabama. Her friend Rev. Dr. Thomas Lane Butts of Monroeville Methodist
Church told The Telegraph in 2011 that contrary to popular opinion, she is not
a recluse, but “a shy woman who never imagined the enormity of the book.”
Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself...It’s a self-exploratory operation that is endless.
An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent.
Harper Lee
Harper Lee
http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2012/04/29/
between-now-and-1984/
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 3

Book v. Play v. Movie
Harper Lee with Gregory Peck
http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2010_hey_boo_harper_lee_
and_to_kill_a_mockingbird_003_big.html
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 4
To Kill a Mockingbird has been a featured story in our cultural zeitgeist
since it was first published in 1960. Not unlike our current trends,
the popularity of the book led to the 1962 Robert Mulligan film.
Like the novel, the film was extremely heralded and has become
iconic in its own right, going on to win 3 Oscars, most notably Best
Screenplay for Harper Lee and Horton Foote, and Best Actor for
Gregory Peck. In the 1970’s playwright/adapter Christopher Sergel
began working on adapting the text into a stage version. Harper Lee,
notoriously cautious about granting the rights, was reluctant at first
to approve the adaptation. Eventually the two came to an agreement
and the play received its first production in 1991 at the Paper Mill
Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. The play has gone on to receive
success in major theaters across the country, school productions,
and educational tours.
Though the popularity of both the play and the movie had much to
do with the success of the novel, all three mediums are distinct in
the story they tell and the lens through which the viewer sees it. As
a coming-of-age story, To Kill a Mockingbird is narrated by its heroine, Jean Louise Finch, or Scout. Our narrator takes us
back in time to witness one of the most important and defining summers of her childhood. Most of the story is told in
past tense and through the eyes of an adult reflecting on her childhood. The book is full of descriptions of Maycomb, the
neighborhoods, the schoolyard and Scout, Jem, and Dill’s adventures. As the trial looms over the family, the book slowly
and carefully allows us to get a feel for the culture of the town, the people who live in it, and its impact on the Finch family.
The movie also has an adult Jean Lousie as its narrator, but her voice functions more to let us know the passage time.
While it is also incredibly visual and descriptive of Maycomb, the film truncates much of the landscape of the story and
gets right to the central issue of the book, the trial of Tom Robinson. One would assume this has to do with time. The film
is two hours long and in that time tries to distill the essence of the Finch family and hard truths the children have to learn
through their experience of the trial. Many of the secondary characters from the book are condensed and plot points like
Mr. Raymond’s presence in the town, Miss Maudie’s house burning down, Aunt Alexandra coming to visit and Jem reading
to Mrs. Dubois are left out all together. It is not meant to suggest that these elements of the story are not important. Their
absence is more a function of streamlining.
While a play adopts many of the same elements as film, there are some distinct differences. Because of the restrictions of
the stage, it is difficult to portray the story in the same naturalistic way that film is able to do. Theatre therefore uses such
devices as movement, music, and descriptive imagery to clearly progress the story. Like the film, the play distills much of
the story down to the Finch family’s experience of the trial and the children’s fascination with Boo Radley. But like the book,
the play gets to the heart of the small town of Maycomb, allows its audience a glimpse of a world before the civil rights
movement began and how fragile the innocence of adolescence can be.
There is one way in this country in which all men are created equal—there is one human
institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein,
and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is the court.
Atticus Finch
to kill a mockingbird

Controversy and To Kill a Mockingbird
Though To Kill a Mockingbird is widely read in
middle and high schools around the country,
it has a controversial history, and is still
problematic for some people today. According
to the American Library Association, it is one
of the most frequently banned or challenged
books. As early as 1966, it was banned from
libraries in Richmond, Virginia because of its
portrayal of rape as a central plot point. Today,
many objections center around the language
used, particularly the many racial slurs.
Though issues of appropriateness for school
children are often discussed, the novel has
attracted criticism in the last few decades
for deeper reasons. Some scholars written
about what they view as the book’s simplistic,
degrading perspective on issues of race, class,
and gender. As Rob Atkinson writes, in the
trial scene, in its simplest terms, “a satisfied,
Atticus and Tom at the Trial
http://www.frontroomcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/to-kill-a-mockingbird-original.jpg
subservient Black—literally and figuratively a “Tom”—is abused by congenitally and incorrigibly evil white trash, only to be
rescued by a rusticating, classics-reading, glasses-wearing but (literally!) straight-shooting father-knows-best.” This is troubling,
certainly. Tom Robinson is nowhere near a fully-developed character, playing more on stereotypes than human truth. Calpurnia
is in a similar situation—she is certainly a likeable character, but more an archetype of the black motherly servant (a “Mammy”)
than a fully-formed person.
The characterization of the Ewells is equally troubling. Their one-dimensional low-ness is completely stereotypical “poor white
trash,” with lots of children, a drunken father, and even insinuations of incest. Though Scout expresses some sympathy for Mayella,
it is just because she seems lonely without any friends. The Ewells are obviously considered less than the other townspeople,
both in their portrayal and through Scout’s eyes, because they are in a lower position economically.
We’re paying the highest
tribute you can pay a
man. We trust him to do
right. It’s that simple.
Miss Maudie
to kill a mockingbird
Mayella’s portrayal is problematic not just because of the way her economic status
is presented, but because of how she is treated as an alleged rape victim. Though
Lee unquestionably wrote the novel knowing, and intending her readers to know,
that Tom Robinson was innocent, the dismissal of Mayella’s testimony by Atticus
is still troubling. Though he begins by being respectful to her, by the end he is
being very harsh and accusatory. His case for Tom’s defense also ends up centering
around the idea that she wanted the sexual encounter. We are obviously meant to
accept this as truth, but still, it borders dangerously closely on the classic response
that “she was asking for it.” Furthermore, Mayella is portrayed as highly emotional,
often too distraught to answer questions clearly. This emotion is treated with
derision and dismissed as a means to get out of questioning, as opposed to being
seen as the genuine reaction of a young woman in a very stressful situation.
Though these issues of portrayal don’t override the overall message of tolerance
that the story teaches, they do undermine it to a certain extent, when examined
carefully.
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 5

Kyle Blanchette (Atticus Finch) has most recently
served as Technical Venue Manager for the
South African production of Kingdom Of Earth
(Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theatre
Festival). Kyle has also appeared in Rock N’ Roll,
Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, and Grace (Gamm
Theatre); and in Intended Demographic (Slam Boston). Film
credits include Day Of Youth, Everything But Free, Straight On
Til Morning, and commercials for Commonwealth Honda and
the Brad Marston campaign. Mr. Blanchette earned a BFA in
Theatre with a concentration in acting from the University of
Rhode Island.
Melissa Carter (Miss Maudie, Mrs. Dubois,
Mayella Ewell) served as a teaching artist for New
Rep’s Summer Studio program for teens, and
its production of the musical Working this past
summer. Credits include Peer Gynt (Incite Art’s
Festival NYC); Assassins, Titus Andronicus, and Merrily We Roll
Along (Boston University). Ms. Carter earned her BFA in Acting
from Boston University. Originally from Washington, DC, she
resides in Watertown.
Kyle Cherry (Dill/Walter Cunningham/Gilmer/
Boo)’s area credits include Gross Indecency (Bad
Habit Productions), and Our Class and Next Fall
(Tufts University). He is a former Commonwealth
Shakespeare Company apprentice and an alumnus
of the American Theatre Wing’s SpringboardNYC program.
Mr. Cherry earned his BA from Tufts University. Originally from
California, he resides in Dorchester.
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 6
to kill a mockingbird
adapted by Christopher Sergel
based on the novel by Harper Lee
Cast (in alphabetical order)
Kyle Blanchette
Melissa Carter
Kyle B. Cherry
Cloteal L. Horne
Alexandria Danielle King
Nathaniel Punches
Jacob Sherburne
Sophie Sinclair
Directed by Clay Hopper
Mac Young, Scenic Designer
Emily Woods Hogue, Costume Designer
Chris Larson, Sound Designer
cast bios
Cloteal Horne (Calpurnia)’s recent credits include The
Miller Project, The Underpants, Time Remembered, Marisol,
Intimate Apparel, The Hill, No Exit, and Monster (Boston
University); Othello (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); One-
Minute Play Festival (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre);
and Little Row Boat (reading, Huntington Theatre Company). San
Diego credits include Twelfth Night, Purlie, Zombie Prom, Urinetown
(Choreographer), Grease (Choreographer), and The Wiz (Director).
Other credits include A Funny Thing Happened...(Barnstormers).
Film credits include Fireworks. Her internships include La Jolla
Playhouse, San Diego Old Globe Theatre, and San Diego Opera.
Originally from San Diego, California, Ms. Horne earned her BFA in
Theatre Arts from Boston University.
Alexandria Danielle King (Reverend Sykes, Tom
Robinson)’s recent credits include The Three Sisters
(Moscow Arts Theatre School); Oedipus and Antigone,
Hamlet, and The Importance of Being Earnest (Tufts
University Balch Arena); A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and Trainwrecked (Roxbury Repertory Theatre); Cause & Effect (Soka
Gakkai International Ensemble Presentation, Hibernian Hall); and
Finding Courage (New England SGI Community Center). Ms. King
earned her BA in Drama from Tufts University. Originally from
Chicago, Illinois, she resides in Dorchester.
Nathaniel Punches (Jem)’s area credits include Rock
Lobster (Boston Children’s Theatre), Gold In The Hills
(Barnstormers Theatre), Twelfth Night and Measure
for Measure (Cape Anne Shakespeare Troupe), and A
Winter’s Tale (Gordon College). In New York he appeared
Nathaniel Punches
in Left and Right (Midtown International Theatre Festival) and in

London he appeared in The Arsonists (British American Drama
Academy). He’s also served as Technical Director for for Boston
Children’s Theatre, Gordon College, and Barnstormers Theatre; and
has done carpentry for the Huntington Theatre Company, Actors’
Shakespeare Project, and SpeakEasy Stage Company. Mr. Punches
studied theater at Gordon College and The British American Drama
Academy.
Jacob Sherburne (Bob Ewell, Heck Tate)’s recent area
credits include Bye Bye Birdie (Reagle Players) and
Floyd Collins (Moonbox Productions). On Saturdays
he performs in The Donkey Show (American Repertory
Theatre) and will perform in Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat (Turtle Lane Playhouse). Mr. Sherburne
earned his BA in Theatre and English from Boston College. Originally
from Burlington, Massachusetts, he resides in Somerville.
Clay Hopper (Director) was formerly the Associate Artistic Director
of Olney Theatre Center and Director of both the National Players
and the Summer Shakespeare Festival there. He now serves as
lecturer in Directing and Theatre Arts at Boston University’s School
of Theatre. Directing credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona,
Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Much
Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet,
Amadeus, Farragut North, Triumph of Love, and Call of the Wild (Olney
Theatre). Other recent credits include On the Verge or The Geography
of Yearning (Contemporary America Theatre Festival Actor’s Lab).
Off-off-Broadway credits include A Home Without and Different Zen
(Third Eye Rep); Earthworms (The Working Group); Triage and The
Interrogation (The Miranda Theatre). He founded and produced a
new play series called New Works/After Hours at Lincoln Center
Institute’s Clarke Studio Theatre. Hopper has taught at Woolly
Mammoth’s Theatre School and College of Wooster, where he
directed King Lear and was visiting assistant professor in 2006, and
served as Assistant Director at The Old Globe Theatre, Manhattan
Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, Williamstown
Theatre Festival, Woolly Mammoth Theater Company. Mr. Hopper
earned his BFA from North Carolina School of the Arts and MFA
from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts.
Mac Young (Scenic Designer) makes his Classic Repertory
Company debut. Area credits include designs for Tennessee Williams:
Original Acts and Coming2Terms (The Vineyard Playhouse); Moliére
Squared, Macbett, Crazy Locomotive (Imaginary Beasts); and Fen,
The Europeans, Dogg’s Hamlet/Cahoot’s Macbeth (Whistler in the
Dark Theatre). He also serves as an Associate Artistic Director at
Whistler in the Dark Theatre, frequently works as Scenic Carpenter
for Huntington Theatre Company, and Designer and Master
Carpenter for The Vineyard Playhouse. He earned a BA in Liberal
Arts and Theatre from Bennington College. Originally from Martha’s
Vineyard, he resides in Somerville. This fall he will perform in Tales
from Ovid (Whistler in the Dark) at ArtsEmerson.
artistic staff bios
Sophie Sinclair (Scout)’s credits include All in the Timing
(Amazing Moustache Productions), Our Town (Riverside
Theater Works), Alice in Bed (Do it Live! Productions),
The Corn is Green (Huntington Theatre Company), and
various roles in various play festivals with the Gan-emeed
Theater Project. This winter she will appear in Our Town at
The Huntington Theatre Company. Ms. Sinclair earned her BA in
Theater Arts from Brandeis University and resides in Brookline.
Emily Woods Hogue (Costume Designer) makes her Classic
Repertory Company debut. Area credits include Trojan Women,
Recent Tragic Events, and Fen (Whistler in the Dark); Or, (The Lyric
Stage Company), and collaborations with Simple Machine and
New Exhibition Room. She serves as an Associate Artistic Director
and Resident Costume Designer with Whistler in the Dark. She
earned her BA in History and Costume Design from Bennington
College after completing internships at both Plimoth Plantation
and Colonial Williamsburg. Originally from New Hampshire, she
resides in Medford and will return to New Rep in 2013 as Costume
Designer for Lungs.
Chris Larson (Sound Designer) makes his Classic Repertory
Company debut. Other recent designs include The Pillowman and
Copenhagen (Flat Earth Theatre); Romeo and Juliet and Neighborhood
3: Requisition of Doom (Happy Medium Theatre); Trojan Women
and Recent Tragic Events (Whistler in the Dark); The Good Doctor
and Eurydice (Independent Drama Society); and Hideous Progeny
(Holland Productions). Originally from Minnesota, Mr. Larson
resides in Roxbury, and will next appear in Our Country’s Good and
The Recruiting Officer (Whistler in the Dark).
Christopher Sergel (Playwright), who wrote the dramatic adaptation
of To Kill a Mockingbird, was born in 1918. In addition to his work with
Mockingbird, he published adaptations of Cheaper By the Dozen, The
Mouse That Roared, Up the Down Staircase, Fame, Black Elk Speaks,
and Winesburg, Ohio, which was produced on Broadway. He also
served as the president of Dramatic Publishing from 1970-1993. He
passed away in 1993 on his 75 th birthday.
Special thanks to Megan Nussle, Assistant Director.
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 7

Other Literary One-Hit Wonders
Emily Bronte: Originally published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell in 1847, Wuthering Heights has become
one of the most well-known British novels. Unfortunately, Bronte died in 1848, without ever receiving proper
recognition for her work. It was republished in 1850 under her name. Though letters indicate Bronte was
working on a second novel when she died, the manuscript has never been found.
Ralph Ellison: During his life, Ellison published only one novel,
Invisible Man, though he also published a book of essays.
Other works have been published since his death in 1994.
While he was alive, he was similar to Lee in his reticence,
refusing to talk about his work or grant interviews to the press.
Margaret Mitchell: Though Gone with the Wind was a huge
popular success, even winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1937,
Mitchell never published another novel. She died in 1949 after
being hit by a car.
Boris Pasternak: In Russia, Boris Pasternak is well known for
his poetry and his Russian translations of dramatic works.
Through the rest of the world, however, he is most recognized
as the author of Dr. Zhivago, his only novel, which was made
into a classic film directed by David Lean in 1965.
Sylvia Plath: Poet and author Sylvia Plath only published one
novel in her lifetime, the semi-autobiographical tale of mental
breakdown The Bell Jar. She also published one volume
of poetry during her lifetime, and two posthumously. Plath
committed suicide in 1963 at the age of 31.
J.D. Salinger: The author of 1951 classic The Catcher in the Rye
died in 2010, having published only the one novel, though
other short stories and novellas. His last interview was thirty
years before his death.
Anna Sewell: The author of best-selling children’s classic
Black Beauty died just five months after her first and only
novel’s publication. The book was an immediate success,
however, so she was able to appreciate its popularity, though
not its longevity.
Oscar Wilde: Though Irish writer Oscar Wilde published many
poems and plays during his lifetime, he only wrote one novel,
The Picture of Dorian Gray.
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 8
I would advise anyone who
aspires to a writing career, that
before developing his talent he
would be wise to develop
a thick hide.
Harper Lee
Photo Credits:
Emily Bronte: http://gondal-girl.blogspot.
com/2012/01/portrait-of-lady-emilybronte.html
Ralph Ellison: http://4.bp.blogspot.
com/-yD6fqypnsU8/T1fg3FK0DYI/
AAAAAAAABXk/pRUgVngmFGM/s1600/
tumblr_lnvcopBJL71qlc0voo1_1280.jpg
Margaret Mitchell: http://
gwtwscrapbook.blogspot.com/2010/08/
week-in-august-margaret-mitchell.html#.
UGSyuLJlS70
Boris Pasternak: http://rosannadelpiano.
perso.sfr.fr/ONPA_Pasternak_Dr%20
Jivago_html.htm
Sylvia Plath: http://readplatform.com/
uploads/2011/02/plath.jpeg
J.D. Salinger: http://www.
manhattanrarebooks-literature.com/
images/Salinger%20Catcher%20Rear%20
1000.jpg
Anna Sewell: http://www.
jamescumminsfinearts.com/pages/
artwork/14610/anna-sewell-1867-1930herbert-cole/anna-sewell
Oscar Wilde: http://www.oscar-wilde.net/

Racism and Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow
http://hobnobblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/
TheConstitutionalAmendment1866.jpg
In the southern United States in the 1930’s, racism was still
commonplace for many people. This was not just the result
of personal ignorance; many laws at the time upheld the
idea of white supremacy. Alabama, home of Harper Lee and
the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird, had 27 statutes which
discriminated against African Americans, the most of any state
except Louisiana, which had 29. These laws were known as
Jim Crow Laws, named after an offensive black character in
minstrel shows.
In Alabama in 1935, it was illegal for people of different races to
get married or live together. This anti-miscegenation law had
been in place since 1882, and wasn’t overturned until 1967. The
language forbidding miscegenation remained in Alabama’s
state constitution until only 12 years ago, when it was officially
removed in 2000.
In 1890, Alabama passed a law mandating separate railway
cars for black and white travelers. The constitutionality of this
law was upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy
v. Ferguson, as long as the conditions of the separate cars were
equal. Many states, including Alabama, took this ruling as permission to implement a wide range of segregated institutions,
including most notably the public school system. Segregation was also seen in places of entertainment, where blacks and
whites were not allowed to sit together, and where blacks were mandated to sit in the balcony. Segregation was apparent and
practiced in restaurants, pool and billiard rooms, toilet facilities, and hospitals.
Some laws were even more harmful and unfair to blacks. Though the 15 th Amendment, passed in 1865, prohibited the federal
government or any state to deny a man the right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” in 1901
Alabama passed constitutional provisions which effectively disenfranchised black voters. One of these measures was the poll
tax, which unfairly affected minority voters who tended to have lower incomes. The 24 th Amendment, ratified in 1964, finally
made this practice illegal.
Alabama also enacted an education requirement in 1901, through which voters were required to prove their literacy in order
to cast votes. Illiteracy rates were significantly higher among blacks than whites, leading to the disenfranchisement of many.
In order to protect the voting rights of illiterate whites, the law also featured a “good character clause,” also known as a
“grandfather clause.” This law allowed an appointment board in each county to approve people to vote if they were veterans
or descended from a veteran, or those “who are of good character and understand the duties and obligations of citizenship.”
This vague wording allowed the boards to approve people on a case-by-case basis, which they did in favor of whites.
As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you
something and don’t you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who
he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, he is trash.
Atticus Finch
to kill a mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 9

Further Studies
To Kill a Mockingbird : Threatening Boundaries by Claudia D. Johnson. Drawing on extensive research, Johnson furnishes readers with key
insights into the novel’s historical and biographical contexts, its place in American literature, and its critical reception.
To Kill a Mockingbird. Screenplay by Horton Foote. This film is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning Novel.
Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird by Candice Mancini. This book presents essays that examine racism and other related issues
in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” discussing such topics as new and old Southern values, and the connection between class, gender, and racial
prejudice.
Hey, Boo. Produced, written & directed by Mary McDonagh Murphy. Fifty years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, To Kill a Mockingbird
remains a beloved bestseller and an influential American novel of the 20th century. Mary McDonagh Murphy’s Hey, Boo explores the To
Kill a Mockingbird phenomenon and unravels some of the mysteries surrounding Harper Lee, including why she never published again. It
also brings to light the context and history of the novel’s Deep South setting and the social changes it inspired after publication.
Mockingbird : a Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields. This is the first book ever written about Harper Lee. Highly entertaining, filled
with humor and heart, this is an evocative portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people whom she made immortal.
Our Mockingbird. Produced, written and directed by Sandra Jaffe. This documentary follows the story of two high schools in Birmingham
Alabama, one predominately white and one predominately black as they collaborate together on a production of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Bibliography
AP. “Author Has Her Say.” Boston.com. The Boston Globe, 21 Aug. 2007. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/08/21/author_has_her_say/
Atkinson, Rob. Comment on Steven Lubet, “Reconstructing Atticus Finch” Michigan Law Review , Vol. 97, No. 6, 1999 Survey of Books
Related to the Law (May, 1999), pp. 1370-1372 Published by: The Michigan Law Review Association. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1290207
Falck, Susan. “Jim Crow Legislation Overview.” Internet Resources on Racism, Race, and American Law. UC Hastings College of the Law.
.
Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird. Written, Directed and Produced by Mary McDonagh Murphy. First Run Features, 2011.
Johnson, Claudia D. To Kill a Mockingbird : Threatening Boundaries. New York : Twayne Publishers, 1994.
Lee, Harper. “’All I Want To Be Is The Jane Austen Of South Alabama’” Interview by Roy Newquist. The Bluegrass Special. July 2010.
http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2010/july10/harper-lee-interview.php. Originally published in Counterpoint,
a book of interviews by Roy Newquist, in 1964 by Rand McNally.
Lee, Harper. Writers Digest. http://www.writersdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/Page3.jpg.
Lubet, Steven. “Reconstructing Atticus Finch” To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Review by: Steven Lubet. Michigan Law Review, Vol. 97, No. 6, 1999 Survey of Books
Related to the Law (May, 1999), pp. 1339-1362. Published by: The Michigan Law Review Association. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1290205
Lyell, Frank H. “One-Taxi Town.” Rev. of To Kill a Mockingbird. The New York Times 10 June 1960: New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/archival/19600710tkamreview.pdf.
Mancini, Candice. Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Detroit : Greenhaven Press, 2008.
Novkov, Julie. “Segregation (Jim Crow).” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 23 July 2007. Web.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1248.
Shields, Charles J. Mockingbird : a portrait of Harper Lee. New York: Henry Holt, 2006.
To Kill a Mockingbird. Screenplay by Horton Foote ; produced by Alan J. Pakula ; directed by Robert Mulligan ; a Universal International presentation of a
Pakula-Mulligan, Brentwood Productions picture.
Toohey, Paul. “Miss Nelle in Monroeville.” The Telegraph. 31 July 2011.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/the-town-where-a-mockingbird-lives/story-fn6b3v4f- 1226104905164.
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 10

Questionaire
Pre-Show Questions
1) The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is written in the first
person, with the character of Scout narrating events as
they happen or as she remembers them. If you were
turning the novel into a play, how would you translate
this device to the stage? Would you have Scout talk
directly to the audience? Would you use a voice-over, like
the movie does? Or would you get rid of her narration
all together? Explain the pros and cons of each choice,
and why the one you chose is the most effective in
telling the story.
8.20, 8.25, 8.32
2) Imagine that you are designing the sets for this play.
Would you have different sets for the street, the house,
the courtroom, the jail, and any other location, or would
you try to design one simple set that could work for
all of them? Would you try to make everything look as
realistic as possible, or give the audience a few objects
to look at and then let them use their imagination? How
would your choice increase the audience’s interest in
and understanding of the story?
2.12, 17.5, 18.6
3) To Kill a Mockingbird is now a novel, a movie and a play.
Why do you think it has been adapted from a novel
into these other forms? What are the similarities and
differences between these genres? Does one make the
story more real or more emotional for you than the
others? What do you think is the best way to encounter
this story for the first time?
2.11, 10.3, 17.6
4) The racist attitudes of many of the citizens of Maycomb
towards black people are shown in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Some people in America today feel that we live in a
“post-racial” society, and that there is no more racism,
because people of color are no longer institutionally
discriminated against and we elected our first African
American president. Do you agree or disagree with
this? Can you think of any examples of racism you’ve
seen in your life?
9.7, 11.1
5) Since a play has to fit within a certain amount of time
and has practical limitations to consider, like how many
actors it can feature or what elaborate special effects it
can use, often characters or scenes get cut from novels
when they are adapted for the stage. What do you think
might have been cut for this adaptation of To Kill a
Mockingbird? If you were adapting the book, what parts
would you be able to cut out? What aspects are crucial
to the story? Why did you make these decisions?
3.7, 17.6
Post-Show Questions
1) Some critics of the novel have said that Scout uses
vocabulary and expresses herself in a way that sounds
much older than 9-years-old. In the play, she is played
by an adult actor. Do you think she was able to embody
the childish nature of Scout? One principal of theatre is
that the audience must engage in a “willing suspension
of disbelief,” in which they imagine that what they
are seeing is true and real, instead of pretend. What
production elements, including costumes, hair, and
makeup, helped you suspend your disbelief and accept
that Scout was a child?
17.9, 18.5, 18.6
2) In the opening scene, Miss Maudie tells Scout,
“[Mockingbirds] don’t do one thing but sing their hearts
out. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” What is
this line symbolizing? Does the mockingbird represent
a specific character or a broad theme? Why do you think
this story is titled To Kill a Mockingbird? If you had to
come up with an alternate title, what would it be?
8.33, 11.5
3) Scout says that by the end of the play she feels “old.”
How have the events she has experienced helped her
grow up? What lessons has she learned? Did you notice
anything changing in the way the actress portrayed
Scout as the play progressed? What were specific
moments where you saw her act like a child, and in
what moments did you notice her maturing?
8.25, 17.5
4) Look through your local newspapers or online for
theatre reviews. Read a few, then write your own
review of New Rep’s To Kill a Mockingbird, based on
the form and content of those reviews. Think about
what parts of the show you really enjoyed, what parts
you didn’t understand, how the performers embodied
the characters, and whether any production elements
hindered or enhanced the telling of the story. We’d love
the read the review when you’re done!
5.7, 19, 20
5) Pick a scene from your favorite novel and adapt it into
a scene from a play. Be sure to include a description
of the set, costumes, and lighting. What challenges do
you face? Are there things that happen in the book that
can’t happen on stage? How do you overcome these
obstacles?
2.14, 18.6, 19.24
To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide, Page 11

New Rep Comes to You!
You Visit New Rep! workshops
Classic Repertory Company
touring the classics to schools, colleges, & the community
Whether New Rep’s Classical Repertory
Company comes to you, or your group visits
New Rep’s Student Matinee Performances
at our theatres in Watertown, MA, we offer a
variety of educational workshops to
enhance the theatre experience.
Special $14 Student Matinee Performances!
*Student Matinees for To Kill a Mockingbird and
Romeo & Juliet are also available.
2012-2013 season - weekdays @ 10am
arsenal center for the arts, watertown ma
Romeo & Juliet
To Kill a Mockingbird
Workshop 1: TRYING ON SHAKESPEARE
Participants will learn to embody the
language of Shakespeare by understanding
the importance the Bard gives to image, gut
response, emotional content, and clarity of
thought. Through scene study and practical
exercise, participants will gain greater
understanding of Shakespeare’s texts.
The epic drama
based on the
best-selling novel.
September 26 & 27
a play by William Shakespeare
adapted by Christopher Sergel
based on the novel by Harper Lee
Mamet’s gritty
comedy on race in
our politically-correct
society.
Young, love-struck Romeo and Juliet must struggle
against their kin, their titles, and destiny itself to
be together.
Harper Lee’s tale of race, justice, personal conscience,
coming-of-age, and the deep history of the South, seen
through the wide-eyed lens of six-year-old Scout Finch.
October 31 & November 1
The playful comedy
asking “which kind
of art deserves
public funding?”
Workshop 2: MAKING THEATRE
In a “marathon” approach, participants will
create an original piece of live theatre. In
collaboration, the group will brainstorm/
pick a topic, discuss/choose a theme,
and develop a story line with characters,
culminating in a short play.
December 12 & 13
Capote’s tales of
friendship and the
joy of giving.
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
prince escalus
Before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.
The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a
person’s conscience.
atticus finch
December 12, 14, 18, 19, & 20
A new take on
Sondheim’s musical
revue and on
marriage.
Workshop 3:
DESIGN YOUR OWN WORKSHOP
Our Classic Repertory Company can help
design a specific workshop experience to
support your curriculum or audience needs.
January 23 & 24
both plays touring in repertory:
october 23 – november 30, 2012 and march 25 – april 19, 2013
This new comedy
looks at intimate,
laughable adult
decisions.
March 6 & 7
Contact Jeannette Belcher-Schepis
for prices, dates, & information:
The dramatic story
of opera diva Maria
Callas’ lifetime.
call 617-923-7060 x206
e-mail groups@newrep.org
Discounts
available to organizations
that book both plays!
April 17 & 18
For more information, pricing, and details on
discounts on multiple bookings, contact
Jeannette Belcher-Schepis at 617-923-706x206
The Tony-winning
drama of Salieri
thwarting Mozart’s
legacy.
Visit www.newrep.org/crc.php to learn more about our
touring theatrical productions. Watch the video and
hear what teachers and students have to say!
Funded in part by generous individual contributors, Procter and Gamble,
Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Target Stores, Massachusetts
Cultural Council, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, Fuller Foundation,
and Watertown/Harvard Enrichment Fund.
May 15 & 16
Our Classic Repertory Company
(formerly New Rep On Tour), New Rep’s flagship educational outreach program, tours professional productions of classic and relevant works of literature to schools, colleges, and the
community throughout New England. Classic Repertory Company’s 2012-2013 Season productions include 90-minute adaptations of To Kill A Mockingbird and Romeo and Juliet. The touring
production includes every aspect of the theatrical production: the cast, crew, set, costumes, props, and sound. In addition, CRC provides study guides and post-performance talk-back discussions
with the cast. Further, CRC offers theatrical workshops allowing audiences to expand their understanding of literature, text, language, collaboration, and problem-solving.