To Kill a Mockingbird at Oak Park Festival Theatre

Chicago Tribune - Recommended

"...Given what's been happening — what has always been happening — in the racial cauldron of the American dream, one wishes that this show took a few more conceptual chances. There is a bit of a reverential tone that occasionally makes it feel a tad musty, rather than achingly relevant. But by the end, as Grey's Scout returns from walking reclusive-but-heroic Boo Radley (Joshua Carroll) back to his home and lair and sees her father standing alone, lost in thought on the porch, we know that she has come to see him and the values of justice that he represents in a new light. That light of justice has been threatened many times in our nation's existence."

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"...News that Harper Lee is publishing a sequel to her 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird should stoke even greater interest in the perennially popular stage adaptation. Now in an outdoor production by the Oak Park Festival Theatre, Lee's story of courage in the face of overwhelming cruelty and bigotry remains as relevant as ever, as does the lesson Scout and Jem learn about the persistence of evil. Outdoor theatre always carries some risks, and we are now at the end of an unusually cold, damp spring, but if you pick the right day to visit Austin Gardens, you will find an amazing production that utilizes the nighttime atmosphere in innovative, and often unnerving ways."