John Grisham’s “A Time to Kill,” stage adaption by Rupert Holmes, directed with strength and energy by Ethan McSweeny, is a powerful, riveting courtroom drama with a dynamite cast. It addresses the biblical question in its title: Two white men rape and kill a ten-year-old black girl. Her father (John Douglas Thompson) kills them. The defense attorney (Sebastian Arcelus) and the district attorney (Patrick Page) battle it out. All three are strong, clear and tap deep into their psyches.
The entire cast is top notch: Tom Skerritt as an old alcoholic lawyer, Tonya Pinkins as Thompson’s wife, Chike Johnson as the sheriff -- not a weak link in the sixteen-member cast.
With a great, imaginative set by James Noone and projections by Jeff Sugg, perfect costumes (by David C. Woolard) and lighting (by Jeff Croiter), this intense, gripping drama doesn’t let go of you throughout its duration. I asked my companion (Barbara Lee Horn, author of eight published books on theater) what she thought of the production. Dr. Horn replied, “Flawless.”) I agree.
