by Harper Lee, directed by Nancy Swann
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN FOR TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
ACCENTS- Everyone in this play lives in southern Alabama and should speak with a southern accent. You can google Alabama accent on youtube to hear what it sounds like. For a long sample, check out Kathryn Tucker Windham an Alabama storyteller. If you feel more comfortable auditioning without an accent that is acceptable but you will need to learn one if you are cast.
NOTE TO PARENTS- This Pulitzer Prize winning play does discuss rape and does use the “N” word. If you are uncomfortable about your child hearing or saying these things, please consider carefully before letting them audition for the play.
AUDITION DATES @ THE DEPOT THEATRE: CHILDREN ONLY:
SATURDAY JUNE 8 @ 9:00am-11:00am
SUNDAY JUNE 9 @ 1:00pm- 4:00pm
AUDITION DATES @ THE DEPOT THEATRE: ADULTS ONLY:
SATURDAY JUNE 15@ 12:00pm-3:00pm
SUNDAY JUNE 16 @ 12:00pm- 3:00pm
CALLBACKS TO BE DETERMINED
REHEARSALS- I will be working with the children throughout the summer, schedule permitting, to get them comfortable with the language and style of the play.
We will be meeting with the whole cast a few times in August and then concentrating rehearsals start in September.
SHOWS- The show will open on October 25 and close on November 17. We will be performing on weekends.
PLEASE PRINT OUT YOUR SCENES AND BRING THEM WITH YOU.
JEAN LOUISE (SCOUT) FINCH- Scout lives with her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem and their black cook, Calpernia, in Maycomb, Alabama. She is intelligent and, by the standards of her time and place, a tomboy. Scout has a combative streak and a basic faith in the goodness of the people in her community. This faith is tested by the hatred and prejudice that emerge during Tom Robinson’s trial. Scout should ideally seem as young as nine.
SCENES: ATTICUS/SCOUT P. 20-22 DISCUSSING THE TRIAL
JEM/SCOUT P. 51-52
JEREMY ATTICUS “JEM” FINCH- Scout’s brother and constant playmate and protector. Jem is a typical American boy, refusing to back down from dares and fantasizing about playing football. He is about to turn 13. Jem moves into adolescence during the play, and his ideals are shaken badly by the evil and injustice that he perceives during the trial of Tom Robinson.
SCENES: JEM/DILL (SCOUT) P. 10-11
JEM/ATTICUS P. 14-15
JEM/SCOUT P. 51-52
CHARLES BAKER “DILL” HARRIS- Jem and Scout’s summer neighbor and friend. Dill is a diminutive, confident boy with an active imagination. He becomes fascinated with Boo Radley. There is a lack in his own home life, and he senses something in Atticus that’s missing from his own family relationship. He is a little younger than Jem.
SCENES: JEM/DILL (SCOUT) P.10-11
SCOUT/DILL P. 44
JEAN LOUISE FINCH- Scout as an adult and the narrator of the play. She can be any age from 35-55. She is our storyteller and drives the play. It is important that we see the strength and character of our young Scout in our narrator.
SCENE: P. 1 MONOLOGUE
WALTER CUNNINGHAM- A hard-up farmer who shares the prejudices of this time and place but who is nevertheless a man who can be reached as a human being. He also has seeds of leadership, for when his attitude is changed during the confrontation with Atticus, he takes the others with him. Mid 30’s and up.
SCENE: WALTER/SCOUT P. 2A-3
ATTICUS- Scout and Jem’s father, a lawyer in Maycomb descended from an old family. A widower with a dry sense of humor, Atticus has instilled in his children his strong sense of morality and justice. He is one of the few residents of Maycomb committed to racial equality. When he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man charged with raping a white woman, he exposes himself and his family to the anger of the white community. He is 50 years old.
SCENES: ATTICUS/SCOUT P. 20-22
ATTICUS P. 44a-45 SUMMATION
ARTHUR “BOO” RADLEY- A recluse who never sets foot outside his house, boo dominates the imaginations of Jem, Scout, and Dill. He is a powerful symbol of goodness swathed in an initial shroud of creepiness, leaving little presents for Scout and Jem and emerging at an opportune moment to save the children. An intelligent child emotionally damaged by his cruel father, Boo provides an example of the threat that evil poses to innocence and goodness. He is one of the plays “mockingbirds.”
SCENE: PLEASE READ MR. GILMER’S SCENE
BOB EWELL- A drunken, mostly unemployed member of Maycomb’s poorest family. He represents the dark side of the South: ignorance, poverty, squalor, and hate-filled racial prejudice. Mid 40’s-early 60’s.
SCENE: P. 30-33 CUT JUDGE, REV. SYKES, SCOUT, JEM LINES
JUDGE TAYLOR- He is a wintry man of the South, who does what he can within the context of his time to see justice done in his court. While he tries to run his court impartially, his sympathy is with Tom. Mid 50’s and up.
SCENE: JUDGE/ATTICUS P. 31
HECK TATE- The sheriff of Maycomb and a major witness at Tom Robinson’s trial. Heck is a decent man who tries to protect the innocent from danger.
Mid 30’s and up.
SCENE: ATTICUS/HECK P. 54-55
REV. SYKES- He is the African-American minister of the First Purchase Church. He is an imposing man with a strong stage presence. Late 30’s and up.
SCENE: PLEASE READ TOM’S SCENE
MR. GILMER- The public prosecutor who is doing his job in trying to convict Tom. Late 20’s and up.
SCENE: GILMER/TOM P.41-43
MAYELLA EWELL- The oldest daughter of Bob Ewell, she’s a desperately lonely and overworked young woman whose need for companionship, any companionship, has overwhelmed her. However, when her effort to reach out explodes in her face, she fights just as desperately for what she thinks is survival. Early 20’s.
SCENE: MAYELLA/ATTICUS P.35-38
TOM ROBINSON- The handsome and vital African-American field hand accused of rape. He faces up to a false charge with quiet dignity. There’s an undercurrent in him of kindness, sensitivity and consideration. Mid 20’s- Mid 30’s.
SCENE: TOM/ATTICUS P. 38-41
ONCE AGAIN: PLEASE PRINT OUT YOUR SIDES AND BRING THEM WITH YOU.
