The friendship between Charlie (played by James Smith) and Jasper highlights the importance of connection, and the need to “be kinder to each other”, says Jelk.

“We see a lot of examples of this in some of the play’s adult characters, including Mad Jack Lionel and Charlie’s mother, Ruth.” “What Craig is trying to say is that just because you’re older and have become an adult, it doesn’t mean you’re mature to the situations around you and the way you react to things,” he says. Valadian-Wilson adds that, although kids grow into adults, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have grown up. Kids have a really helpful view on the world and have these innate human reactions where they see how it can be really horrible to hurt another human.” Kids are really smart and see this as a horrible thing, whereas adults become seriously desensitised to it all. “It’s useful to see through a kid’s eyes when you see violence or injustice occurring. By framing the play like this, Jelk says, the audience must confront those racist attitudes without the desensitised lens of adulthood. The audience watches the events of the play unfold through Charlie and Jasper’s eyes, and, like them, are powerless against the injustices suffered by Jasper and the other minority characters. “The story shows audiences the blatant racism that was around in the '60s, while at the same time highlighting the way it is in our society now.” “It’s pretty fascinating going back to that headspace because the show is set in a completely different time and era. He says bringing 13-year-old Jasper to the stage has been nothing short of natural to him. “It’s quite fun, watching it, because I’m not really aware about the ages of the actors playing these kids.” “The themes in this play are quite heavy, so it’s safer for older adults to depict them,” says Jelk. In the State Theatre’s iteration adult actors take on the roles of the young protagonists, with 20-year-old Elijah Valadian-Wilson in the titular role. Mulvany’s adaptation has been staged in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne to sell-out seasons. In 2017, Silvey’s novel was turned into a film starring Toni Collette and Hugo Weaving. The novel is part of school curricula nationwide, and is often cited as Australia’s To Kill A Mockingbird.

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