[1][2] The show follows the story of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in 1930s Alabama, as he defends Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of rape.

[4] During development the show was involved in two legal disputes, the first with the Lee estate over the faithfulness of the play to the original book, and the second was due to exclusivity to the rights with productions using an earlier script by Christopher Sergel.

[17] The play resumed performances on October 5, 2021 at the Shubert Theatre, with the original cast of Jeff Daniels and Celia Keenan-Bolger returning.

[21] In 2019 it was announced that the production would transfer to London's West End to the Gielgud Theatre opening in May 2020 with Rhys Ifans as Atticus Finch before being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During development of the play, the Lee estate believed that the proposed script varied too much from the book, and a complaint was filed in an Alabama federal court in March 2018.

[27] The Lee estate alleged that Sorkin had made too many changes to the original story by framing Atticus as the main character instead of Scout.

"[15] Because the Lee estate lawsuit was jeopardizing the release of the show, a countersuit of $10 million was filed by Sorkin's lawyers in April 2018.

[32][33] After a public outcry, Scott Rudin offered to "ameliorate the hurt caused" by making Sorkin's adaptation available to regional producers.