Unfinished business as Richard Coyle back on stage in To Kill A Mockingbird

SussexWorld

Richard Coyle (The Player Kings, Macbeth, Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore) returns to the role of Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, reprising the role he played to critical acclaim in the 2022 West End production.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely this

00:06afternoon to speak to Richard Coyle. Now you're doing something really exciting. Double new

00:12territory for you. Not only you were touring for the first time, for the first time you were

00:17returning to a role that you've already enjoyed. You were going back into the Atticus Finch shoes

00:23for To Kill a Mockingbird. This time on the road, a huge long tour. I think you're doing

00:27Southampton and Eastbourne in our area. It must be a pretty special role that made you

00:33want to come back to it. Was there a feeling of unfinished business? What made you think

00:37yes? Yes, there was a feeling of unfinished business very much. And I think I wanted to

00:44come back and I've thought a lot about it since I finished in the West End. It stayed with me.

00:52I felt very privileged to have done it and honoured to have done it. And yeah, so I think I really

01:00jumped at the chance to come back. I wanted to have another chance to wear the suit.

01:07Absolutely. Well, it stayed with you post that, but it stayed with you pretty much a lifetime. You

01:12first read this as a teenager and it really said things to you. It struck you, didn't it? Why did

01:17it have an impact on you as a teenager, do you think? I think it was the book I needed.

01:25In what way? As a teenager. It was the book I needed. It sort of has been very important

01:32in my life and it has shaped, it's been, you know, I would say largely it's been quite instrumental

01:40in shaping who I am as a person and who I've tried to be as a person. The ideas, the paradigm

01:50of Atticus Finch, the kids and the ideas of morality, of right and wrong.

02:02How we teach children and reading it as an older teenager, I guess, on the receiving end

02:15of how the kids in the book are being taught by Atticus was a joy to sort of feel that like

02:24at this as a child in a way. And to, it's just something that I've kept very dear to me.

02:32Interesting. You see, or saw him as a kind of paradigm, this model to look up to. But

02:37the point is, this production gives us a much more nuanced picture, doesn't it? By combining

02:42the two books.

02:43It does, yeah. It combines the Atticus of Ghosts as a Watchman, which is the sequel to Mockingbird,

02:49as well as the Atticus from the first book. And I think as a result, it's a much more nuanced

02:57journey. He's much less of a white saviour.

03:01Yeah. So much more realistic.

03:03It's more realistic. And I think the lessons that he learns constitute effectively an identity

03:11crisis from the Atticus at the beginning of the play to the Atticus at the end of the play.

03:16And I think it's a journey, a kind of a catharsis that he goes through that leads him into

03:21a more nuanced understanding of the world that he is in.

03:27Yeah. And it sounds incredibly appealing.

03:29It's very, yeah, it's a brilliant, it's a gut punch of a play. It's funny and it's devastating.

03:38And yeah, it's very moving.

03:41In fact, it was your first tour and it's quite a long one, isn't it? There are dates lined

03:47up. How much are you going to enjoy that process of touring? It must be a great way of sort

03:52of taking the temperature of the theatres across the country.

03:55It's great to be.

03:57Yeah. And it's important. You know, theatre is more important now than ever. And I think

04:01it's really, it's a real, I feel very blessed that I get to, you know, stand at the head

04:08of this production and that we get to travel all around our country and Scotland and Ireland

04:16and Northern Ireland and see, you know, and to bring this to audiences who will otherwise

04:22probably wouldn't get a chance to see this. And I do think it's an incredibly universal

04:27and timeless and important piece. The messages are there.

04:31You've got so much chance to explore, haven't you? And bend down and develop.

04:37Yeah. And re-engage constantly and think about what we're doing.

04:43With always the energy coming from different venues, I guess.

04:46With all the different energies of the different places.

04:49Yeah. Well, it sounds a lovely prospect. Really looking forward to seeing you in it.

04:53Before too long, Richard, thank you as much and really good to speak to you. Thank you.

04:58Thank you very much, Phil.

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