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 paperback copy of John Grisham's novel 'A Time to Kill' will set you back less than $10. The DVD of the film will cost a few bucks more. The new adaptation on Broadway? Tickets at the box office start at $70. Save your money...director Ethan McSweeny and a talented cast that includes standouts Patrick Page, Tom Skerritt and Fred Dalton Thompson can't seem to get any traction with a story about the case of a black father who kills the white men who raped his daughter.
Courtroom claustrophobia can create drama. But there's no tension here. Worse, there's no context. Clanton is roiling with racial hate. Jake risks his career, his wife and child (never seen in the play) and his life for the case. That doesn't come through. We're told about a burned-down house. We're given a report about racist chants. But we don't see or hear them. Charged with the dramatic felony of telling instead of showing, 'A Time to Kill' is guilty. Throw the book at it.
2013 | Broadway |
Broadway Premiere Broadway |
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