In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Vince Petronio and Margaret Durning play father and daughter.

Richard W. Dionne

Most people know the story behind “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee’s tale of a saintly Alabama lawyer appointed to defend a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman during the Great Depression. But it’s an important story worth remembering. And at Warren’s 2nd Story Theatre, the remembering is as sweet as it is powerful.

This is a terrific production directed with a confident hand by Mark Peckham. There is not much in the way of sets, which is 2nd Story’s wont, but the cast is top-notch, especially Vince Petronio as attorney Atticus Finch and F. William Oakes as Bob Ewell, the town drunk who testifies that kindly Tom Robinson raped his dimwitted daughter. Kudos, too, to the band of children in the cast.

If you don’t know Lee’s novel or haven’t seen the film starring Gregory Peck as Atticus, the plot is simple. Tom Robinson, a good-hearted black man, has befriended trashy Mayella Ewell. One day Mayella invites Tom into the house when her siblings are in town and throws herself at him. But when her hateful father Bob happens upon the scene, he beats Mayella and accuses Robinson of rape. She goes along with the charges.

Petronio’s Atticus is assigned the case and essentially exposes Mayella and her father as liars. But this is the Deep South in the 1930s.

Kids play an important part in the play, adapted by Christopher Sergel, for the action is often seen through the eyes of Scout, Atticus’ young daughter, and her older brother Jem. Margaret Durning is impressive as the feisty, headstrong Scout, who wants to be kept up on all the details of the trial and won’t be pushed around by anyone. There’s a great scene where she confronts an angry neighbor who has come to the jail to get Tom Robinson. She reminds him that she plays with his son and that her father defended him, and the neighbor orders a band of angry townsfolk home.

Evan Kinnane, a 2nd Story veteran, does his usual slick job as Jem, and newcomer Arek Schneyer makes an appropriately precocious Dill, their friend.

Oakes, though, is especially fine as Ewell, the quintessential bigoted redneck, who would rather see a black man sent to jail than admit that his daughter had feelings for one. He’s got the accent down, the gestures and the mean streak as wide as a cornfield. And he carries it all off with a kind of crazed, evil look about him.

Petronio plays opposite him nicely as the even-tempered lawyer who tries to do right by his fellow man. Together they are a wonderful study in contrasts.

Paula Faber helps move the story along as socially enlightened Maudie Atkinson, who often serves as narrator. And Jona Cedeno stood out as Tom Robinson, the black man who was nothing but decent to Mayella. His moment on the stand was really moving.

Other strong performances came from Eric Behr as sheriff Heck Tate and Amy Thompson as Mayella. It was wonderful to watch her squirm during Tom’s testimony, as Tom laid out his version of events.

In lesser roles Walter Cotter plays Judge Taylor, an obvious product of the South, but still a man of some integrity and fairness. And Jonathan Jacobs made a brief appearance as Boo Radley, the reclusive hermit who leaves presents for Scout and comes to the children’s rescue at one point.

Again, this is an excellent production of a superb play, one of the most significant stories of our times. Its run has already been extended because of many sold-out performances, so it would be wise to get tickets as soon as possible.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” runs through Dec. 20 at 2nd Story Theatre, 28 Market St., Warren. Tickets are $25. Call (401) 247-4200.

cgray@projo.com