Aaron Sorkin's To Kill a Mockingbird Adaptation to Be Licensed Via Concord Theatricals

Theatres around the country can now produce Sorkin's version of Harper Lee's novel.

March 31, 2026 By Diep Tran

Concord Theatricals has announced that it has acquired the worldwide licensing rights to Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of the Harper Lee novel To Kill a Mockingbird, via its Samuel French imprint. The play ran on Broadway from 2018–2022, and will conclude its two-year U.S. and U.K. tour in May.

"Doing plays in high school and college and my local community theatre is what made me want to write plays,” said Sorkin in a statement. “I’m thrilled that Concord is making To Kill a Mockingbird available for stock and amateur productions now and I’m wishing everyone who does the play the best of luck."

Set in Alabama in 1934, the play is from the point of view of the young Scout, whose father Atticus Finch takes on a case to defend Tom Robinson in court, a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Sorkin's adaptation premiered on Broadway in 2018 at the Shubert Theatre, directed by Bartlett Sher. It starred Celia Keenan-Bolger as Scout, who won a Tony for her performance, Jeff Daniels as Atticus, and LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Calpurnia. It ran at the Shubert Theatre until 2020, when it went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. It resumed performances when Broadway reopened and closed January 16, 2022, after 45 previews and 626 performances. It then played the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End.

“I stand second to none in my admiration for Aaron Sorkin’s incredible writing, and we are proud to continue to be his licensor and publisher,” said Sean Patrick Flahaven, Chief Theatricals Executive of Concord, in a statement. “Harper Lee’s enduring classic remains relevant and inspiring, and Aaron’s masterful stage play will continue to engage and enthrall audiences from schools to professionals worldwide.”

Sorkin's version of Mockingbird is not to be confused with the adaptation by Christopher Sergel, which was published in 1970 and is licensed under Dramatic Publishing. In 2022 the Harper Lee estate was ordered by an arbitrator to pay Dramatic Publishing damages for violating its 1969 agreement with Sergel, which stated that Dramatic had exclusive rights to license Mockingbird in schools and amateur theatres. This announcement that both versions of Lee's play are now available to license seems to suggest that the dueling Mockingbirds are now at a truce.

Visit Concordsho.ws/Mockingbird. See photos from the Broadway production of Mockingbird below.