AYOUSH LAZIKANI introduces her guide to the many ways in which the Moon was interpreted in medieval times
Startling adaptation
INDIANNA PURCELL highly recommends a stage production that gives voice to the book’s muted black characters
Rafe Spall, right, as Atticus Finch, with (L-R) Gwyneth Keyworth as Scout Finch, Harry Redding as Jem Finch and David Moorst as Dill Harris
[Marc Brenner] 
An analysis of the choices facing the US left has to reach beyond the confines of the Democrat party, suggests RON JACOBS
FRANCIS BECKETT introduces his new play that aims to give its audience a taste of what a far-right triumph would be
KENNY MACASKILL welcomes an outstanding biography that gives full context to the life of Scotland’s greatest early 20th century novelist
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Ackroyd & Harvey: The Art of Activism, The Lost Bus, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, and Happyend
MARY CONWAY relishes the spectacle of a domestic implosion in a setting strangely divorced from any social, political or cultural context
To Kill A Mockingbird
Gielgud Theatre
APPARENTLY when asked if he would write the script for the stage adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird, Hollywood playwright Aaron Sorkin thought “it would be a death wish.” It’s easy to see why. Harper Lee’s 1960 Pulitzer prize-winning novel tackling racism and injustice is such an enormously popular story — almost sacred in fact — it’s a daunting task for anyone, even an Oscar-winning screenwriter such as Sorkin.
But Sorkin needn’t have worried, he and director Bartlett Sher have managed to create a startling adaptation that not only pays homage to the original text — as well as the equally successful 1962 film — but challenges and criticises the novel’s flaws. Atticus Finch’s white saviour is reproached, muted black characters have voices.
First staged on Broadway during Trump’s time at the White House, followed by the very public murder of George Floyd, it still feels incredibly timely — a shameful indictment on us today.
While the subject matter is sobering and serious, this isn't your run-of-the-mill polemic, write INDIE PURCELL
An absolute must for those who love film and graphic novels, writes INDIANNA PURCELL
