Community theaters kill productions' Mockingbird & # 39; after the threat of a trial: NPR

For 11-year-old Olivia Mongelli, the bad news came during the rehearsals.

"Everyone on the scene was in shock," said the Ohio girl, portrayed as Scout in the dramatic production of Harper Lee's classic novel. the New York Times. "I sat for a second and said, 'Is this a joke?'

From Massachusetts to Utah, the small theatrical productions of "To Kill a Mockingbird" are closing at the threat of a lawsuit filed by the producer of the new Broadway production.

It does not matter that the new version, written by Aaron Sorkin, is completely different from Christopher Sergel's play performed by high school students and community theater actors for decades. It does not matter that community theaters have paid license fees of at least $ 100 per performance to Dramatic Publishing Company, which holds the rights to the previous version of the play.

According to the lawyers for Broadway producer Scott Rudin, the important thing is that, according to Dramatic's contract with Harper Lee, most amateur shows can not continue now that a new version of the story is presented to Broadway.

This 1969 contract, according to Timeblocks Mockingbird performances within a 25-km radius of cities with 150,000 or more inhabitants in 1960, while a "first-class drama" based on this book is performed in New York or on tour.

"We hate to ask anyone to cancel any production of a play anywhere, but the licensed DPC licensed productions are in direct violation of Harper Lee's rights to us." has licensed, "Rudin said in a statement.

"The Sergel game can continue contractually to be executed in accordance with the guidelines set out in its own agreement with Harper Lee – and as long as these guidelines are followed, we have no problem with the game having a long life."

The Lee Estate sent several letters to Dramatic Publishing, claiming that it had improperly granted rights to community theaters, Time reports. While the dispute was pending, Rudin's lawyers began sending letters directly to theaters in late February. According to the Associated Press, movie theaters can be damaged up to $ 150,000. Thus, in the cities of the country, the performers receive the bad news.

Small production houses, unable to assume the legal risk, cancel their productions or look for a more rural place that does not derogate from the contract. Even if they want to challenge Rudin's exclusive claim, small theaters do not have any legal wrangling in the budget.

The members of the Dayton Playhouse Board of Directors "have thoroughly investigated ways to overcome these obstacles and present our production, but under the threat of significant lawsuits from Rudinplay, the decision was made to cancel production, "they said, according to local media.

Dozens of community and non-profit theaters have canceled their productions, the AP said. More than 25 are planned to run the original version this year, the New York Times reports. It is not clear if these productions will continue.

The Kavinoky Theater of Buffalo, New York, which has sold about 3,000 tickets in advance, will replace Mockingbird with an adaptation of George Orwell's "1984". "Thank you for supporting us during this difficult time," released the theater on Facebook. "As they say in the theater … THE SHOW MUST HAVE !!!!!!!!"

And at least one local theater decided not to abandon production, but rather to move it. The Mugford Street Players, based in the Marblehead suburb of Boston, are shifting their performance to Gloucester to circumvent the performance contract restriction within 40 km of a major city.

"I think Atticus Finch would be proud of those theatergoers who are fighting and throwing themselves wherever they can," said Gloucester Stage Company's Executive Director, Gloucester Stage Company. Gloucester Daily Times.

It's not just the community theaters in the United States that have been forced to shut down their productions. Last month, a touring version of the Sergel play, which was due to shoot in the UK and Ireland, was canceled after facing legal threats.

Rudin "specified" that his company "would take legal action against the producer of the tour, his theater of origin and all the places where it was to be presented if the tour was not canceled with immediate effect" The tour producers said in a statement, according to Playbill.

Rudin's production debuted on Broadway in December and has been widely criticized. But the series itself was the subject of controversy last year when Lee's estate was sued, claiming Sorkin's adaptation was too far from the original story. Rudin and Lee's estate settled the case in May, just one month before the trial began.