It is a time of economic uncertainty and racial tension, with young people exploring gender roles and questioning patriarchy, mental health, otherness and women’s agency over their lives. Quick! What time is it?
Newly adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin and directed by San Francisco native Bartlett Sher, the Tony-winning production made its Broadway debut in 2018, took a pandemic break with the rest of the world and then closed early this year before launching this tour in March. The current engagement at the Golden Gate Theatre ends Oct. 9.
Thomas is essaying the much-studied role of Atticus Finch, an attorney conscripted to defend a Black man accused of raping a white woman in Depression-era Alabama. It was played by Jeff Daniels and later Greg Kinnear in New York and, of course, by Gregory Peck in his Oscar-winning 1962 film interpretation.
Controversial since its publication, Lee’s novel remains a locus of debate for both conservatives and liberals, finding itself joining or leaving school curricula, if not being outright banned in some communities. In 2020, it was among the top 10 challenged books for the fourth time this century, based on a list compiled annually by the American Library Association.