Interview by Kilian Melloy
Harper Lee’s extraordinary 1960 novel To Kill A Mockingbird made waves upon publication that continue to this day. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961; it was adapted into a now-classic film in 1962; it has been a fixture on middle and high school reading lists for generations. It has also routinely been challenged and removed from said reading lists. Even so, its powerful depiction of race-motivated injustice struck a resounding chord in the culture, and Aaron Sorkin’s 2018 adaptation, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, while infused with warmth and humor, doesn’t shy away from the novel’s sometimes brutal themes.
The novel tells the story of an Alabama town riven by prejudice and rage following a Black man’s arrest on accusations of rape. The alleged victim is a white women named Mayella Ewell, who in fact has been brutally beaten and choked, but no evidence of rape is forthcoming and the accused, Tom Robinson, is shown to be physically incapable of having caused her injuries. Even so, Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, spreads accusations and racial hatred, at one point whipping a mob into a frenzy and endangering the imprisoned Robinson’s life.
This is emotionally and socially graphic material, but there’s another layer: in the play, the story is told by three children. Scout and her older brother, Jem, are the children of local lawyer Atticus Finch, who finds himself representing Robinson in court. Scout and Jem befriend a boy named Dill who is visiting relatives for the summer and who, like them, is baffled and curious about the way the town’s adults are behaving. Adding to the kids’ intrigue is the mystery around another townsman, Boo Radley, who lives near the Finches; he’s a monster of another sort, whose supposed atrocities are the stuff of local legend. It all adds up to a coming-of-age story in which it’s the example set by grownups that brings the kids’ childhoods to an end.
Boston native Liam Craig portrays Bob Ewell in The Huntington Theatre’s production of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. A Broadway veteran with a lengthy list of credits, Craig describes the mental and emotional place the character has brought him to in stark terms. “We just did a photo shoot this morning,” he tells Theater Mirror, “and everyone is so jovial and easygoing, and I’m in a very cloudy place in this role.” That’s quite different from his usual roles. “I tend to do a lot of clown stuff,” Craig notes.
Read on for Craig’s insights into how the play’s current production recalls the discord of the not-so-distant past, his insights into the character of Bob Ewell, and his long working relationship with Huntington Theatre’s Artistic Director — and director of this show — Loretta Greco.
Theater Mirror: How does the role of Bob Ewell in …Mockingbird compare to other roles you’ve had at the Huntington, as well as on Broadway and off-Broadway?
Liam Craig: I would say that I play a lot of drunks, but I don’t play a lot of mean drunks. I tend to play happy, silly drunks…. so this is approaching it from a very different angle. I think you need a good villain, so I’m trying to provide that side of the piece as strongly as I can, so Karl [Kenzler], who plays Atticus, can really shine against that.
Theater Mirror: There’s plenty of humor in Sorkin’s adaptation, Ewell doesn’t get much of that — though some of his lines could be given a bit of a satirical spin. Are you playing into that, or are you playing Ewell serious and straight and without that undercurrent?
Liam Craig: I’m playing it serious. It’s pretty heavy. I will say that the woman playing my daughter, Jackie Scholl, she’s doing a wonderful job. I have this feeling of being very protective of her off stage, and yet, obviously, the relationship is really difficult on stage. It’s been funny, splitting my focus in that way.
Theater Mirror: Do you feel that Bob Ewell might have a vicious sense of humor underneath everything?
Liam Craig: I think that’s true. Especially in Sorkin’s version, he does get some strong one-liners. He does score a couple of points on Atticus in their scenes together…He comes in hot, and he comes in a little smarter than I think we are used to in terms of the movie and other portrayals of this character…
Theater Mirror: He’s a complex character. He is a drunk, and there are intimations of violence and assault that he’s committed, but he’s very talented at turning grievance into a weapon. What are you doing to find that in yourself and channel it?
Liam Craig: I’m definitely a movie buff, and so I’ve been thinking of great cinema villains. James Remar in 48 Hours as Ganz — that’s a villain that’s always really stuck out to me. Also, honestly, Mr. T as Clubber Lang in Rocky III. I did find myself last week watching A Clockwork Orange because [of] that kind of chaos that Alex brings in that film. I feel like Bob is a chaotic force in this, as well. But then, also, I’m finding myself needing to watch some things that are lighter, just to get away from the piece a little bit.
Theater Mirror: Does your research also include diving into our social dialogue?
Liam Craig: I’m really just digging into the rhythms and the language of the play. I feel like the Sorkin version is really well constructed in terms of the echoes of the present that we hear in it. I have to say some really hateful things [in the role of Bob Ewell], and we’re working in a very gradual way; I have not been saying all of the words that I am eventually going to be saying. We’re taking that step by step, which I think is a really smart decision.
Theater Mirror: Do you feel that there’s some personal moral thing you have to reckon with, or a place you have to come to so you won’t be not injured by Ewell’s words and deeds?
Liam Craig: That’s interesting. I will say that I am very aware of my behavior in the rehearsal room, just trying to be a little more positive than I tend to be in terms of being front-footed and meeting people and sort of making sure to engage with everyone in a way that makes everyone feel safe– so that everyone feels like when the hate is coming out of my mouth, this is work time. This is what we’re building towards, but hopefully there’s this sense of the difference between the actor underneath versus the terrible things that I’m saying.
Theater Mirror: It feels like Sorkin’s adaptation is very much directed at our current moment. I feel like Ewell could be a successful politician by today’s standards.
Liam Craig: Unfortunately, I think that’s true, and we’ve talked about that. We’ve talked about how the trial, even though it doesn’t really go the way Ewell wants it to, is a platform for him, and he does sort of gain some notoriety. It gives him a kind of social currency, at least in terms of the people that he hangs out with. I think that he does use that to his advantage.
Theater Mirror: Atticus Finch insists that everyone is fundamentally good. Do you look for the good in Ewell? Or is there none?
Liam Craig: I’m certainly advocating for him, fighting for his point of view. I wouldn’t say I’m too worried about moments of goodness or positivity, because I feel like Atticus does have this thing of where he does try to see the good in everyone, and everyone keeps saying, “Bob Ewell doesn’t have that. Why can’t you see that?” I think that those characters are right. Bob Ewell does not exist to have any moments of redemption. I feel like he exists to stand in contrast to Atticus and Atticus’s worldview.
Theater Mirror: There is a certain moral symmetry built into the play between Bob Ewell and Atticus Finch. What kind of conversations do you have with Karl around that [Karl Kenzler who plays Atticus]?
Liam Craig: You know what’s really nice is, Karl and I were both at the NYU Graduate Acting Program in the late ’90s. We did not overlap, but it is interesting [to] have that shared vocabulary. Although it’s the first time that Karl and I have worked together, I feel like we’ve circled each other for a long time in terms of getting the opportunity to share the stage. Even when we’re doing these very intense scenes together, I feel incredibly safe on stage with Karl, and I would hope that he feels the same with me.
Theater Mirror: How did you come to have this role?
Liam Craig: I’ve known Loretta for a long time. She’s never directed me, but I did work at the Magic Theater [in San Francisco] when she ran it. I think I was there in 2013, and I certainly had a great time working there, and working under her regime. Since she’s been in Boston, we’ve tried a few times to kind of make our schedules work and find something that we could collaborate on together. This was the first time that the timing was right.
Theater Mirror: What are you hoping that audiences take with them after they see this play?
Liam Craig: I grew up in Boston during the ’70s, during the bussing crisis. There are lessons in the story that we still have not learned, even in a place like Boston. It’s important [but] it’s tough to get people on other sides of the aisle into the theater. You don’t want to feel like you’re always preaching to the choir. I hope that people leave moved, and also thinking about how this is very applicable to the questions that we are still asking– and the answers that we have not found.
This interview has been edited for length, flow, and clarity.
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is scheduled to run October 8 – November 8 at The Huntington Theatre in Boston.
