Sorkin: Adapting “Mockingbird” Not Easy
“There’s not much upside,†says Aaron Sorkin of his task adapting Harper Lee’s classic novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ for the stage. He tells Playbill: “[The audience] can hate you for ruining their childhood, or they can remember how great Harper Lee (pictured) is, but that’s about it.†So why do it? “I get to be in a theatre,†Sorkin gushes, “and I get to be there with [director] Bart Sher.†Sorkin adds that the infamous trial, the apex of drama, is “well more than halfway through the book.†That, and the story is really young Scout’s tale—led by a child. “In a novel, we’re okay with listening to children talk and watching them behave because the author, in this case Harper Lee, has made sure it’s of interest to adults,†Sorkin explains. “On a Broadway stage, we’re not going to be able to watch children for that long.â€
