A Passion Play for the Deep South

Matthew Bigg has written an interesting report for Reuters from Monroeville, Alabama. This is the hometown of Harper Lee, and it inspired the setting for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In fact the courthouse scene for the film based on the novel were shot on location in Monroeville. The popularity of the book and the film have made the town a major tourist attraction, which has led to a new approach to Lee's story:

Every spring, thousands of Mockingbird tourists flock to Monroeville to visit locations associated with Lee's life, the book and the courthouse used in the film.

They also come to watch a stage adaptation of Mockingbird. Act One takes place in the grounds of the court but for Act Two the audience and players move indoors to the original oval-shaped courthouse where the book and film are set.

That setting allows the drama to unfold with audience, judge, lawyers and defendant occupying the same positions as they would have held in a real trial. Black cast members are even confined to the gallery as they were under segregation.

For the audience, part of the fascination is being witness to injustice. For the volunteer actors, the annual productions have also allowed them to reflect on the book's message.

When one realizes that, in a reader survey, To Kill a Mockingbird was ranked second only to the Bible as the book that had most affected readers, this dramatic strategy takes on a bit of the feel of a Passion Play, complete with the roles being played by volunteer residents of the town. The Passion Play, in turn, has its roots in the tradition of retelling the key stories that shape a culture, in this case by acting out the story. Some would argue that this is the foundation of all religious ritual. This is not to imply that reading To Kill a Mockingbird (or telling its story) is a religious experience. Rather, it shapes the culture of Monroeville by keeping the memory of segregation, and the injustices that it entailed, alive. This is important to a community that has transcended its segregationist past. It is always important to remember who you are and where you came from, and this applies as much to the community as to the individual. Lee's novel may have "affected readers" almost as much as the Bible; but, in Monroeville, that impact has resulted in cultural growth. Few works of literature can make such a claim.