The staged version of “To Kill a Mockingbird” is touring, and this week, it’s come to Boston.
Mary Badham is performing as Mrs. Henry Lafayette DuBose — and if the name sounds familiar, it’s because she played the child Scout in the original 1962 movie adaptation. But now she’s playing a character one who’s living with addiction, a theme that resonates now just as much now as they did back then.
Badham joined Arun Rath on GBH’s All Things Considered to discuss the relevance of Harper Lee’s 1960 classic today. The theatrical adaptation is running at Citizens Bank Opera House through April 17. What follows is a lightly edited interview.
Arun Rath: Mary, thanks for being with us. First off, tell us about the character you are playing now. This is Mrs. Henry Lafayette DuBose — do you say “DuBose” or “DuBois”? I don’t remember this character!
Mary Badham: [laughs] Yes. It’s DuBose!
Rath: So, who is she? Why do we care about her?
Badham: Mrs. DuBose is an elderly lady who is in the neighborhood. She's very crabby because she's addicted to morphine because she must have had some kind of injury. And she's not a very pleasant person to be around, for the children. Very unpleasant. They try their hardest to be nice to her, but it's a little difficult.
But she's pivotal in the story in a lot of ways because it teaches the kids patience. It teaches them to understand people, all the lessons that Atticus Finch wants them to learn about being kind to the elderly and doing the right thing.
It's a good character, and it's so current for today because we have so many elderly people that are addicted to opioids. So for me, it gives me a good talking point about that occurrence today.
"There's just so, so much that we're dealing with today that's in this book, and it's got all of life's lessons that we obviously still haven't learned yet, which is kind of sad."
Rath: Yeah, it's interesting hearing you just talk about it — I'm just being reminded about what a rich piece of work it is. Because, you know, we tend to think about the trial and about race, but it deals with so many other things. And a character addicted to morphine is so, so relevant right now.
Badham: Yes. And we have, you know, the discussions about parenting, and single-family parenting and how to deal with ignorance all around you and keep your kids safe. We deal with Boo Radley, the character Boo Radley. We deal with mental disability. There's just so, so much that we're dealing with today that's in this book, and it's got all of life's lessons that we obviously still haven't learned yet, which is kind of sad.
There's just so much in this book, and it's just a tiny little book — it's a one-night read — but it's just cram-packed full of all kinds of stuff. And then you've got the film and the play and I am just so thrilled with this play. I can't wait for everybody to see it. I hope everybody will come.
Rath: Tell us a little bit about about the play, and we'll talk a bit more about — obviously — your history with this. But for people who know the book and the film, how does the play compare — in terms of structure, how it's told?
Badham: Well, obviously, because it's theater, it had to change. And you're very limited on time. So things had to move rather quickly, which they do — you will definitely not get bored watching this play because things just go so fast. You have to, like, pay attention because it's really quick.
People are going to laugh. They're going to cry. They're going to be cheering. It's got a little bit of everything, all rolled into one. And the cast is just phenomenal.
Rath: And as you're working on this right now — we talked about the various themes that come up in this very rich work — thinking, though, in particular about about themes around race and social justice. I have to imagine, you know, after what we've seen in our country the last couple of years, when you're rehearsing a work like this that involves, like, an angry white mob and things like that, what's it like?
Badham: It's frightening. You know, I mean, because it registers so current. It's really sad that we still are having to deal with this. But I've always said ignorance is the root of all evil. And education is the key to freedom. We have to educate our people, we have to come together. And you get these people who say, “Oh, you know, we're Christians, we're dah-dah-dah, you know, and we think this is the right thing to do to be racist and bigoted.” And that's not at all what Christianity stands for in my book.
Rath: And let's talk about your history with this work as performed because you played Scout, of course. And having having having played Scout and now being Mrs. DuBose, talk a little bit about about having played both sides of that and what you get from the work overall, from each of those characters.
Badham: Well, you know, from Scout as a little kid, it was just me being me. I mean, I was just playing have a good time. And it was so similar to my own family background of my own bringing-up that it just flowed very easily.
Mrs. DuBose, now that I'm older, she flows a little more naturally, also. And because I'm a certified nursing assistant, I have seen patients like Mrs. DuBose, had to deal with patients like Mrs. DuBose.
Rath: What is it been like for you working with the child who plays Scout in this new stage version? That must be a little bit surreal, right?
Badham: Oh, Melanie [Moore] is just a doll. She is just so adorable and she's so full of energy — and she's a great Scout. The whole cast is just so amazing. I watch them work and they made me cry.
Rath: I'm very excited about this. It seems like, gosh — I guess, again, the more we think about this, the story just seems really like a perfect piece for right now — for the humanity of it, especially.
Badham: I hope so. I hope people will see it that way and enjoy it for that.
Rath: Mary Badham, it's been really great talking with you this this is such a pleasure, thank you.
Badham: Well, thank you so much for having me on. And we all come.
Rath: That's Mary Badham. She played Scout in the 1962 film version of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” She's playing Mrs. Henry DuBose in the stage version that's opening in Boston this evening at the Boston Opera House. Performances run through April 17. This is GBH News’ All Things Considered.
