This fall, John Grisham's debut novel A TIME TO KILL, one of the most celebrated courtroom dramas of the last several decades, becomes the first in his iconic collection of legal dramas to be adapted for the Broadway stage.
A TIME TO KILL is the incendiary story of a Southern community torn in half by an unspeakable crime. As the shocking news hits the public, small town America becomes the center of a media storm, where innocence is the victim, race is on trial and lives hang in the balance.
Part courtroom drama, part suspense thriller, pure theatrical dynamite, A TIME TO KILL begins performances September 28 at the Golden Theatre.
'It was my first book and the first that I have allowed to be adapted for the theatre. Rupert Holmes did an excellent job of translating it from the page to the stage, and I am happy that not only my loyal readers, but a whole new audience, will be able to experience this story in live theatre.'
- John Grisham
A thriller of the sort rarely seen on Broadway these days, John Grisham's 'A Time to Kill' brings a satisfying, if unsettling, courtroom drama to the Golden Theatre with an engaging cast playing juicy dramatic characters in a lurid tale spiked with a mild frisson of sex...They're all appealing, in comic-strip-thin roles. Holmes ('The Mystery of Edwin Drood') has streamlined the narrative almost to the point of flash cards. Ethan McSweeny's staging, in contrast, is oddly stilted, with drawn-out scene changes (the sets are by James Noone) and portentous music (by Lindsay Jones) that drag the story-telling for no apparent reason. Still, the twists and surprises of Grisham's efficient revenge-tragedy come through and the actors are good company for a couple of hours; I never was bored.
in a Broadway season quickly beginning to gather its own steam, this mechanical legal procedural cannot, I'm afraid, even outdo the competition in constant rotation on TV...if you've seen the movie, you may at times feel like you're watching it again through a slightly blurry lens, since both Mr. Arcelus and Mr. Page seem to have been cast for their ability to impersonate their counterparts in the film... this competent but bland production goes down like a big tumbler of sweet tea. A really effective courtroom drama should sear the throat like a shot of Southern moonshine.
2013 | Broadway |
Broadway Premiere Broadway |
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