Cosumnes River College professor and playwright Anthony D’Juan’s original play, “Birdmocking,” which is loosely based on Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” premiered on Tuesday at CRC’s Black Box Theater.
“Birdmocking” takes on the story “To Kill a Mockingbird”, which is originally told from the perspective of Atticus Finch’s daughter, Scout Finch. “Birdmocking” is told from Tom Robinson’s perspective, a Black man from the segregated part of town who is charged with crimes he didn’t commit. The play is performed as a stage reading.
D’Juan said the inspiration for “Birdmocking” came from his friend, who had mentioned it would be interesting to see the story from Robinson’s perspective.
“I didn’t so much adapt the book as I did sample the book,” said D’Juan. “You know virtually nothing about Tom Robinson in the book; they talk around him, but you don’t really get to know him.”
D’Juan wrote the play in 2020 over the course of seven weeks, starting with reading the book and finishing with writing his first draft.
“The only thing was just figuring out how to tell it,” he said. “Since ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is essentially considered southern goth, I decided to take this cult approach to it.”
D’Juan said that he wants the audience to take away from “Birdmocking” that “there are forces and spirits bigger than us that can get ahold of you if you’re not careful.”
Co-Director of “Birdmocking” and theater professor, Matthew Miller said the performance is more about concentrating on the text, as it is the first time the play is being performed to an audience.
“When you concentrate on the text, you can really work with the actors, on vocal quality and the oral presentation of it,” Miller said.
Emma Wehrli, a 25-year-old theater major who read for a few characters in the play, including Mayella Ewell, said the audition process was fun. Wehrli said she had never met Miller before the auditions, but there was an introduction and an ice breaker before she auditioned for “Birdmocking” and “Rent.”
“When I actually got to audition in front of him, I felt very calm and excited to do it,” Wehrli said.
Eric Charlton, a 19-year-old music and theater major who plays Tom Robinson, said that this is his third stage reading and second one with Miller, but he still finds it a bit challenging.
“You don’t get to move around the stage,” Charlton said. “It’s acting in one spot, so that’s the hardest thing. It’s mainly expression through vocal energy, not really physical energy.”
“Birdmocking” has four stage reading performances, with two remaining. One on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The shows are pay what you can, with either free entry or a maximum of $30.