“A Time to Kill” on Broadway

 

Adaptation by Rupert Holmes – Directed by Ethan McSweeny

A stage adaptation of “A Time to Kill,” John Grisham’s legal thriller about a young white lawyer defending a black man for a revenge murder in Mississippi, will open on Broadway the 20 October 2013, Previews begin 28 Sept. A Time to Kill was Grisham’s first novel (1989). The novel was rejected by many publishers before Wynwood Press (located in New York) eventually gave it a modest 5,000-copy printing. After The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Client became bestsellers, interest in A Time to Kill grew; the book was republished by Doubleday in hardcover and, later, by Dell Publishing in paperback, and itself became a bestseller.

Cast:

Sebastian Arcelus

Dashiell Eaves

J.R Horne

Chike Johnson

Patrick Page

Tonva Pinkins

John Procaccino

Tijuana Ricks

Lee Sellars

Tom Skerritt

Fred Dalton Thompson

John Douglas Thompson

Ashley Williams

 

 

In 1996, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name, starring Matthew McConaughey and Samuel L. Jackson. In 2011, it was further adapted into a stage play of the same name. The pre-Broadway production began previews at Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.) on May 6, 2011, and opened May 22. The story takes place in the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi, which is also featured in other John Grisham novels. Two of the characters, Harry Rex Vonner and Lucien Wilbanks, later appear in Grisham’s 2003 novel The Last Juror, which is set in Canton in the 1970s. Harry Rex Vonner also appears in the 2002 Grisham novel, The Summons, and in the short story “Fish Files”, in the 2009 collection Ford County. In 1984 at the De Soto County courthouse in Hernando, Grisham witnessed the harrowing testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim. According to Grisham’s official website, Grisham used his spare time to begin his first novel, which “explored what would have happened if the girl’s father had murdered her assailants.” He spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Grisham has also cited Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird as an influence. This book is set in 1984. Another stated inspiration was the success of Presumed Innocent.

Now at the John Golden Theatre 252 W. 45th St.New York, NY 10036

Previews begin September 28, 2013, Opening: October 20, 2013

 

Want the Whole Plot ?

In the small town of Clanton, in Ford County, Mississippi, a ten-year-old African-American girl named Tonya Hailey is viciously raped and beaten by two white racists, James Louis “Pete” Willard and Billy Ray Cobb. Tonya is later found and rushed to a hospital while Pete and Billy Ray are heard bragging in a roadside bar about their crime. Tonya’s distraught and outraged father, Carl Lee Hailey, recalls a similar case from the year before, in which four white men raped a black girl in a nearby town and were acquitted. Carl Lee is determined not to allow that to happen in Tonya’s case and, while Pete and Billy Ray are being escorted inside a courthouse, Carl Lee kills both men. Carl Lee is charged with capital murder. Despite efforts to persuade Carl Lee to retain high-powered attorneys, he elects to be represented by his friend, white attorney Jake Brigance. Helping Jake are two loyal friends, disbarred attorney Lucien Wilbanks and sleazy divorce lawyer Harry Rex Vonner.

Later, the team is assisted by liberal law student Ellen Roark, who has prior experience with death penalty cases and offers her services as a temporary clerk pro bono. Ellen appears to be interested in Jake romantically, but the married Jake resists her overtures. Carl Lee is prosecuted by Ford County’s corrupt district attorney, Rufus Buckley, who hopes that the case will boost his political career. It is claimed that the judge presiding over Carl Lee’s trial, Omar “Ichabod” Noose, has been intimidated by local white supremacist elements. This proves true when Noose refuses Jake’s perfectly reasonable request for a change of venue, even though the racial make-up of Ford County virtually guarantees an all-white jury. Billy Ray’s brother, Freddy, seeks revenge against Carl Lee, enlisting the help of the Mississippi branch of the Ku Klux Klan and its Grand Dragon, Stump Sisson. Subsequently, the KKK attempts to plant a bomb beneath Jake’s porch, leading him to send his wife and daughter out of town until the trial is over.

Later, the KKK attacks Jake’s secretary, Ethel Twitty, and kills her frail husband, Bud. On the day the trial begins, a riot erupts between the KKK and the area’s black residents outside of the courthouse; Stump is killed by a molotov cocktail. Believing that the black people are at fault for Stump’s death, Freddy and the KKK increase their attacks. As a result, the National Guard is called to Clanton to keep the peace during Carl Lee’s trial. Undeterred, Freddy continues his efforts to get revenge for Billy Ray’s death. The KKK shoots at Jake one morning as he is being escorted into the courthouse, missing Jake but seriously wounding one of the guardsmen assigned to protect him. They continue to burn crosses throughout Clanton. Later, they burn down Jake’s house. Despite the loss of his house and several setbacks at the start of the trial, Jake perseveres.

Jake badly discredits the state’s expert psychiatrist by establishing that he has never conceded to the insanity of any defendant in any criminal case in which he has been asked to testify, even when multiple other doctors have been in consensus otherwise. He traps the doctor with a revelation that several previous defendants found insane in their trials are currently under his care despite his having testified to their “sanity” in their respective trials. Jake follows this up with a captivating closing statement. After lengthy deliberations, the jury acquits Carl Lee by reason of temporary insanity. Carl Lee returns to his family, and the story ends with Jake, Lucien, and Harry Rex having a celebratory drink before Jake is to hold a press conference and leave town to reunite with his family.