Strong cast in a simple triumph

To Kill a Mockingbird, Royal Exchange, Manchester

PERHAPS because it has been a set text for years, or perhaps simply because the story about childhood, justice and the harsh world of adulthood are a potent package, Harper Lee’s famous tale rarely fails to be a major draw.

And so it is with this fine Royal Exchange production by guest director Max Webster.

Already two-thirds sold out, the packed official first night audience loved the casting and the simplicity and directness of the storytelling — and I couldn’t agree with them more. If you plan to go — and you should — get tickets quickly.

Every production of this much-loved drama has to pass the test of its two central characters, lawyer Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout — and here Webster casts both perfectly, and admirably against expectations in terms of the father.

As Scout, the theatre brings back Shannon Tarbet, the sensational young actress who won an award for the Exchange’s “Mogadishu” in 2011.

Here she melts hearts again, playing her 21 years down to eight, pitching up her voice and delivery and offering a mix of tomboy and future supreme court judge. This Scout has a child’s curiosity and an unfailing sense of what is right. It’s another gorgeous piece of work from her, and no doubt she is already being pencilled in for another award.

That’s not to say any of the prominent members of cast is a weak link. As her older brother Jem, Rupert Simonian is a fine and typically American boy, forceful but respectful; and the children’s friend Dill is given a charming sense of confusion by James McConville.

Both performances as the young Finches draw on the quiet dignity of Nigel Cooke as Atticus. Cooke isn’t what you would think of as Finch: this is a slight, Tom Courtenay-ish actor with an understated authority.

He doesn’t dominate the courtroom scene with a Gregory Peck-like presence, as in the movie, but is just what Finch is — a small time lawyer, albeit one with a burning sense of fair play.

That’s the story of the production’s success: there is no grandstanding, no declamatory excess; Webster lets the play speak for itself and it speaks beautifully — and if it occasionally, briefly, looks like it came out of a drama workshop, it’s a small price to pay for its humanity and overall quality.