MADISON – The poignant, Southern tale of “To Kill a Mockingbird” will fill Zompa Auditorium on May 4-6. The Patriot Players Advanced Production Troupe of Bob Jones High School is presenting the drama.

Director B. Dwayne Craft said his students comprehend the play’s lessons about justice and prejudice. “They find it almost alien that bigotry was so openly expressed, but they get the injustice.”

“This group of kids is very professional in (their) approach to this production. From the very beginning, they took ownership and started working on it like the piece of art it really is,” Craft said. “They put a lot of love into this production and brought that love to fight the hate and bigotry they see in the media.”

The cast and Craft discussed parallels between today’s society and the past.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is a story of right versus wrong and loss of innocence. “The protagonist Scout Finch is confronted with racism and inequity of Jim Crow Alabama during the Great Depression. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, defends a black man wrongly accused of a crime that could cost him his life,” Craft said.

Seth Slaton portrays Atticus. A senior, Slaton has performed all his four years at Bob Jones and played multiple leads with Patriot Players. Scout, played by Maggie Moore, also is a four-year drama veteran, along with community theatre shows. Addison McAbee, a freshman, also appears as Scout.

Senior Andrew McCauley is cast as Jem and has been involved in Bob Jones theatre for three years in several roles. Freshman Justin Peel as Dill is completing his first year in theatre,

Secondary roles include junior Isaiah Battle and senior Zach Moss (Tom Robinson) and senior Olivia Carroll and junior Anna Spengler (Mayella Ewel). The cast includes 24 actors with some double-cast roles, 11 student technicians and Student Director Logan Romero.

The production will use two different settings with multiple set pieces.

“The courtroom scenes will have the entire cast on stage. The trial is staged as if the audience is the jury, as it adds a different dimension to the scene when the audience is confronted with Atticus’ powerful and moving closing arguments,” Craft said.

The turnaround from Bob Jones’ “Thoroughly Modern Millie” musical to “To Kill a Mockingbird” “was incredibly tight. The actors have been practicing for months, but tech has only a narrow window of time to complete the set and lights,” Craft said.

Show dates are May 4, 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on May 6. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students.