To Free a Mockingbird

I went in to watching To Free A Mockingbird with high expectations, as I'd heard so many great things from friends and colleagues, but for me, this show exceeded them.

Grace draws us in with her affable sense of humor, quick wit, and occasional dexterous banter with the audience. She has the great gift of making every specific aspect of her story she shares feel intimate and universally relatable.

I did not know where the story was headed, but when she brings us to the emotional climax, she does so deftly, sweeping us up in her honesty and vulnerability. The way this show transitions into these moments toward the end after the initial setup provided a huge payoff that hit me in the gut.

This show is one of those pieces that opened my heart, and reminded me of how precious life is, how we love others deeply with all their imperfections, and how grief changes and moves us but never really leaves.

I can't recommend this show enough and I hope more folks have a chance to see it elsewhere after this run!

The Royal Scotts Club is the perfect venue for this show, but at first you don’t know it. It’s overly formal, a little stuffy, kind of cold, but the second Grace Aki takes the floor she warms the place up. She has you laughing, she’s bubbly - boarding on frenetic - as she tells you her story. She’s bouncing from vignette to vignette from character to character - using the energy of the room to fuel her and you are with her every single moment because that’s the kind of storyteller she is - captivating, vulnerable and extremely engaging.

The journey she takes you on takes time and you don’t always know where you’re going, but the destination is a worthy one. To Free A Mockingbird a story of family, of generational trauma from grandmother to mother to daughter, a story of deep love, and painful grief - but with many many laughs along the way… asnd why is the Royal Scotts Club the perfect location? well you’ll have to see this for yourself. I’m not going to spoil it.

One of the most honest, authentic, and effective expressions of grief I've ever seen in theatre. As with many shows, I started off by asking, "Where is this going?" Unlike many shows, Grace leads us to a worthy destination -- and a devastatingly human one, at that.

Grace tells her story at the frenetic pace of a U.S. Southerner who has adapted to New York City sensibilities. Her buildup takes time, but the emotional payoff at the end is worthwhile.

To Free a Mockingbird is not a perfect show, but I don't think it needs to be. Grace's retelling of her family's generational trauma and her personal grief is incredibly raw, so it is naturally and imperfectly pocked with blemishes and scars. But much like the rest of the human experience, grief is best encountered in its rawest form, imperfections and all. And that is what makes Grace's show worth far more than the price of admission: it is incredibly human.

An absolute emotional rollercoaster of a show, told at 100mph, what a storyteller! Loved it, go and see!

In seven years of Fringe shows, I can't remember a single performance I have been captivated by, or enjoyed, more. It is funny, sad, emotional, raw, vulnerable, uncomfortable, relatable, and, most of all, a beautiful show about stories, memories, and the strange twists and turns that peoples' lives take. Grace's performance involves the audience in a wonderful way; she is an incredibly charismatic, charming performer who manages to connect with each member of the audience in a wonderfully intimate way. And more than anything, she translates emotion and feeling into every word, every phrase, every movement, and brings her experience of living to us. I was simultaneously surprised that only an hour had passed at the end, based on how much she had shared, and also felt as if she had only been talking for five minutes - it was incredibly captivating, and I hope she comes back in the future with more shows!