Bartlett Sher gets tip top and believable, involving performances from his cast.  Patrick O’Kane is brutal and frightening as Bob Ewell, a Southerner still carrying the damage of the Civil War defeat and, as his daughter Myella, Poppy Lee Friar is a fragile, beaten child deprived of love.  I liked Jim Norton’s intervening and caring judge but who didn’t seem to direct the jury on their verdict. 

I feel confident in predicting theatrical knight status for Rafe Spall after seeing his magnificent portrayal of Atticus Finch.  He has a vulnerable humanity we may aspire to.  But the ensemble performances here are all strong. 

Gwyneth Keyworth’s Scout, a girl tomboy in dungarees is natural and impulsive contrasting with her elder brother Jem (Harry Redding) who shares the narration but who doesn’t believe there is good in everyone.  Scout will demonstrate the meaning of “exculpatory evidence” with a twinkle. The Finch children and Dill pop up in the courtroom scenes but it seems quite natural.  Jem is made to apologise for destroying racist Mrs Dubose (Amanda Boxer)’s flowering camelia.  As their friend Dill Harris, the character based on Harper Lee’s friend Truman Capote, David Moorst has words that hint at his probably developing as a gay man.  Dill’s quirkiness is often light relief.