Review | Manatee Players stage a moving 'Mockingbird'

You almost certainly know the story and the characters that make up "To Kill a Mockingbird." You quite likely know every scene and a lot of the dialogue.

But even if you do, the Manatee Players production of Christopher Sergel's stage version of the classic American novel is poignant, and both heartening and heart-breaking.

Much of that has to do, of course, with the source material. Harper Lee's book is as close to perfect as any work of fiction ever written. Repeated readings of the book, or viewings of the movie, only reveal new treasures within the words and the story; they never diminish its appeal.

But the Manatee Players production has charm and power of its own.

Mark Shoemaker, who plays Atticus Finch, can make you forget Gregory Peck's sublime performance in the film. It's not that Shoemaker is better -- that would be close to impossible -- but his portrayal is so different, so much softer, that you soon abandon the idea of comparing his performance to the one you're so familiar with. But as different as his performance is, it's still true to the Atticus of the book.

Eldred Brown is Tom Robinson, the African-American man falsely accused of raping a white woman, and his performance is one that you're unlikely to forget soon after you leave the theater.

The whole cast is solid, though. There's a noticeable lack of weak performances, which is remarkable given the depth and complexity of the material.

Director Preston Boyd has an obvious feel for the material, and moves his large cast -- 17 people, on the confined stage of the Bradenton kiwanis Theater at the Manatee Performing Arts Center -- with a sure hand around Ralph Nurmela's lovely set. The set is the front of three houses in Maycomb, Alabama -- the Finch home on the audience's left, Miss Maudie's house on the right, with Boo Radley's vaguely spooky residence in the middle.

Sergel's play is pretty good. The courtroom scene that makes up the end of act one and the beginning of act two is especially well dine. But it has some deficiencies that will be apparent to people who

know the book.

Having grown-up Scout narrate, as she does in the book and the movie, would be problematic a theatrical production, so Sergel has Miss Maudie occasionally step out of the action and comments about what's going on

It feels a bit awkward. But more significantly, it eliminates Scout's reminiscences and observations about Atticus. In fact, the entire relationship between Atticus and Scout, one of the most wonderful elements of the novel, is downplayed.

The only real problem with the production, on opening night, was that the audience had trouble understanding the dialogue from some of the young actors especially during the courtroom sequence when they're seated to the extreme edge of the stage area. But they still did good work in general, and it's likely that they were especially nervous on opening night and they'll be clearer later in the run.

The youngest actors, by the way, are double-cast. Jacqualine Galvano and Ricardo Campbell play Scout and Dill on some night and Olivia Garland and Noah McCoy take those roles for other performances.

Details: Through May 1, Bradenton Kiwanis Theater at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave, W., Bradenton. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $26-$36. Information: 941-748-5875,manateeperformingartscenter.com.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Review | Manatee Players stage a moving 'Mockingbird' ."