Contributed by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move
LONDON, ENGLAND – Barry Diller and Sonia Friedman announced today that Matthew Modine and Cecilia Noble will lead the new company of the critically acclaimed production of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird – a new play by Aaron Sorkin, directed by Bartlett Sher, currently running at the Gielgud Theatre, West End.
Matthew Modine’s iconic portrayals in films such as Alan Parker’s Birdy, Louden Swain in Vision Quest, Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, and Dr. Martin “Papa” Brenner in the global phenomenon Stranger Things have cemented Matthew’s legacy in the entertainment industry.
Cecilia Noble is a highly acclaimed stage and screen actress, nominated for two Olivier Awards and two Evening Standards Awards. Her extensive stage credits include Faith, Hope and Charity, Nine Night, Downstate, and The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, and her television credits include Killing Eve, Teacher, Call the Midwife, and Black Mirror.
Anna Munden will play the pivotal role of Scout Finch, joined by Sam Mitchell as Jem Finch, and Ellis Howard as Dill Harris. Taking the role of Bob Ewell is Welsh stage and screen actor Jason Hughes.
Matthew Modine and Cecilia Noble are joined by Cheryl Burniston, Colin R Campbell (Mr Roscoe/Dr Reynolds), Jack Crumlin, Alan Drake, Max Ferguson, Phillipa Flynn, Ellis Howard (Dill Harris), Jason Hughes (Bob Ewell), Niamh James, Julie Legrand, Nigel Lister, Sam Mitchell (Jem Finch), and George Telfer. The new company will begin performances on 21 November, 2022. Remaining in the company are Harry Attwell (Mr. Cunningham/Boo Radley), Helen Belbin (Miss Stephanie/Dill’s Mother), Niall Buggy (Judge Taylor), John Hastings (Bailiff), Rebecca Hayes (Mayella Ewell), Simon Hepworth (Link Deas), Tom Mannion (Sheriff Heck Tate), Anna Munden (Scout Finch), Tiwai Muza, Itoya Osagiede, Jude Owusu (Tom Robinson), Oyin Oyija, David Sturzaker (Horace Gilmer), and Natasha Williams (Mrs Dubose’s Maid). Candida Caldicot (on organ), Ciyo Brown, and Jack Benjamin (on guitar) also continue with the production.
The current company, with Richard Coyle as Atticus Finch, will play their final performance on 19 November. The production is currently booking until 4 February, 2023.
The Harper Lee adaptation has been one of the major hits of this year’s West End season, playing to packed houses at the Gielgud Theatre since its opening in March.
Set in Maycomb, Alabama in 1934, To Kill a Mockingbird has provided American literature with some of its most indelible characters: lawyer Atticus Finch, the tragically wronged Tom Robinson, Atticus’ daughter Scout, her brother Jem, their housekeeper and caretaker Calpurnia and the reclusive Arthur “Boo” Radley. For the past six decades and for every generation, this story, its characters, and its portrait of small-town America have helped to, and continue to, inspire conversation and change.
Harper Lee’s enduring story of racial injustice and childhood innocence has sold more than 45 million copies of the novel worldwide. 2020 marked the 60th anniversary of its publication.
Matthew Modine plays Atticus Finch. On stage, Modine’s credits include Arthur Miller’s Finishing the Picture (Chicago’s Goodman Theatre) and Resurrection Blues (The Old Vic), and in 2010, he starred in the 50th Anniversary Broadway rival of The Miracle Worker (Circle in the Square Theatre). For television, Modine is currently playing Dr Martin “Papa” Brenner in the global phenomenon Stranger Things – Screen Actors Guild Best Ensemble Performance Award. Other television work includes the Emmy-winning Showtime series Weeds. An acclaimed film actor, Modine has worked with many of the industry’s most respected directors, including Oliver Stone, Sir Alan Parker, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Altman, Alan J. Pakula, John Schlesinger, Tony Richardson, Robert Falls, Sir Peter Hall, Abel Ferrara, Spike Lee, Jonathan Demme, John Sayles, and Christopher Nolan, but it was Robert Altman who propelled Modine to international acclaim with his film adaptation of David Rabe’s play Streamers – for which the cast received an unprecedented Best Actor Award from the Venice International Film Festival. His signature roles include Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, Alan Parker’s Birdy – which won the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix, Louden Swain in Vision Quest, Treat in Alan Pakula’s film adaptation of the hugely successful Lyle Kessler play Orphans, F.B.I. agent Mike Downey in Jonathan Demme’s screwball comedy Married to the Mob and Robert Altman’s Shortcuts – Golden Globe for Best Ensemble. Other recent credits include Oppenheimer, Hard Miles, Retribution opposite Liam Neeson, Foster Boy with Louis Gossett Jr, Miss Virginia opposite Uzo Aduba, Wrong Turn, and Operation: Varsity Blues: The College Admission Scandal. Modine has directed several distinguished short films When I Was a Boy (1993), Smoking (1994), Ecce Pirate (1997), I Think I Thought (2008), To Kill an American (2008), Jesus Was a Commie (2011) and soon to be released, I Am What You Imagine Is Love. In 2010, Modine co-founded Cinco Dedos Peliculas (CDP) with former Apple Marketing executive Adam Rackoff. CDP develops narrative films, documentaries, animation projects, mobile apps, and initiatives with a focus on environmental activism.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Set in Maycomb, Alabama in 1934, To Kill a Mockingbird has provided American literature with some of its most indelible characters: lawyer Atticus Finch, the tragically wrongly-accused Tom Robinson, Atticus’ daughter Scout, her brother Jem, their housekeeper and caretaker Calpurnia and the reclusive Arthur “Boo” Radley. For the past six decades and for every generation, this story, its characters, and its portrait of small-town America have helped to, and continue to, inspire conversation and change.
Twitter: @MockingbirdUK Instagram: @Mockingbird_ldn
Facebook /ToKillAMockingbirdWestEnd
Please be advised that this production contains racially explicit language, themes and content, and references to sexual abuse and violence. There will be brief gunfire audio in the performance.
Recommended for ages 12+
The producers cannot guarantee the appearance of any particular artist, which is always subject to illness, injury, and statutory leave entitlement.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD BY HARPER LEE
Published in 1960, Harper Lee’s debut novel To Kill a Mockingbird was an immediate and astonishing success – it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was published in ten languages within a year of its release. The book, considered one of the great classics of modern American literature, went on to become a global phenomenon, with more than 50 million copies in print to date. To Kill a Mockingbird has moved international readers for half a century, with editions published in over 40 languages including Persian, Dutch, Norwegian, Russian, Vietnamese, Armenian, Chinese, and Esperanto.
In 2012 the Library of Congress presented an exhibition titled Books That Shaped America, inviting those who attended to cite the book that most changed their lives – To Kill a Mockingbird came second only to the Bible.
In 2007, Lee was recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which cited her “outstanding contribution to America’s literary tradition”. In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded Lee the National Medal of Arts, an award given for “outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts” – the nation’s highest honor for artistic achievement.
LISTINGS
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Gielgud Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 6AR
Box Office: 0844 482 5130 www.tokillamockingbird.co.uk
Now playing until 4 February 2023
