[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of the Group Rep’s A Time to Kill, written by John Grisham, adapted for the stage by Rupert Holmes, directed by Tom Lazarus, and produced by Stevie Stern.
The Group Rep’s latest production, A Time to Kill, is another in a long line of excellent theatre! This iconic company really is absolutely superb at adapting iconic films to the stage. Helped along, of course, by an excellent play version by Rupert Holmes. The play is set almost entirely in the courthouse, with small scenes set very cleverly at the very edges of the Group Rep’s large accommodating main stage.
For those of you who didn’t read the best-selling book or see the brilliant film version with Matthew McConaughey, Samuel L Jackson and Sandra Bullock, the story is set in Mississippi and revolves around the brutal rape of a 12-year-old Black girl by two local drunk Klan members. They leave her for dead and are picked up by the police soon after the girl is found by the side of the road. There is no doubt of their guilt, and once they are charged and the trial is set, it’s clear they will be convicted. But the child’s father has his own plans for them and shoots them both dead as they walk between the courthouse and the jail. After turning himself in immediately, he hires a local lawyer and instructs him to find a way to win an unwinnable case and to send him home to his daughter who barely survived her ordeal.
It’s a classic high-tension courtroom drama. Made all the more poignant by its continuing relevance in our country and its seemingly endless prejudice, not only in the South where this story is set.
A play this good deserves to be performed by gifted actors with a hunger for truthful drama. The wonderful Group Rep has assembled a phenomenal cast and they find ways to tell this sad and ingeniously crafted story with a perspective all their own. Every performance is flawless. Emotional, truthful, unrestrained and bold. They do not blink, not once, and the result of this extraordinary commitment is an utterly unmissable play.
NoHo is so lucky to have this truly wonderful and deeply thoughtful theatre company in it’s midst. They bring us play after play of nuanced, imaginative and meaningful theatre.
A Time To Kill is another triumph. What a streak the Group Rep is having!! I cannot recommend it enough. It’s a white-knuckle, unrelenting emotional rollercoaster ride and it will keep you guessing right up until the end…even if you already know the story.
That’s great theatre. To make you forget what you already know for the sake of wonderful performances that hold you tight every moment of the play.
Phenomenal performances by a perfect cast! Bravo!!
Where:
The Group Rep Theatre
10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601
When:
May 22-June 28
Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM
Sundays at 2PM
“After the Matinee: Talkback with cast and staff” 5/24 & 5/31.
Tickets:
A Time to Kill Cast
The Group Rep cast features the talents of Patrick Anthony, Reed Michael Campbell, Dominic Ryan Gabriel, Jennifer C. Holmes, Hudson Long, Michael C. Mahon, Adam Mattson, Rosney Mauger, Sherrick O’Quinn, Anica Petrovic, James Lawrence Powell, Steve Rozic, Mark Stancato, Neil Thompson, Sandra Tucker, Troy Whitaker and Steve Young.
The Team
The production and design team includes Stevie Stern (Producer),Tom Lazarus (Set Design), Noemi Barrera (Lighting Design), Shon LeBlanc (Costume Design), Avi Kipper (Sound Design), Alex Salkin (Property Master), Denise Downer (Marketing), Nora Feldman (Public Relations), Doug Haverty (Graphic Design), Lee Redmond (Set Build Foreman), Kristin Stancato (Board Operator), John Ledley (Stage Manager), Anica Petrovic & Hartley Powers (Social Media Promotional Video) & Lazarus/Engalla (Photography).