Harper Lee, author of the bestselling novel, 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is a native from Monroeville, Alabama.  A reenactment of the novel is portrayed through a play in front of Lee's home every April and May.

 For the past 26 years, the play has been a hit among locals and non-locals. This year, the sales for the play shot up to 4,000 in just five days, according to New York Times.

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The locals call April and May, the 'play season'. The hotels in the small town are often fully booked on weekends. Charter buses that came from the Interstate Highway pass through the 'slow road' of US Route 84, in order to see the play.

The charter buses came from other states such as Texas, Indiana, Florida and Louisiana.

The adaptation by Christopher Sergel is the most faithful to Lee's depiction of racism in 1930s Alabama.  Over the years, the play reached as far as Israel and China for its accurate portrayal.

The first opening night for the 'play season' commenced last Friday at the Old Monroe courthouse. The audience sat in benches or stood from the back to watch. For the avid reader, the courtroom is accurately described in the Chapter 16 of her novel.

"It's the town's best season. It's kind of like the Masters for Augusta. This is our Masters," said Sandy Smith, executive director of Monroeville Chamber of Commerce.

Smith also emphasizes that people come to Monroeville 'with or without the play'.  The only difference is that during play season, there is a 'concentrated focus' of visitors. Monroeville hotels have an estimated income of US$200,000 in sales during play season.

The 88 year old author recently announced her second novel, 'Go Set A Watchman', slated to publish on July 14, 2015.

Spencer Marie, owner of Ol' Curiosities and Book Shoppe, has ordered 5,000 copies of the upcoming second novel since the demand is high for Lee's novels bought from her hometown. The book will be embossed with a gold seal, certifying that it came from Ms. Lee's hometown.

Tagsto kill a mockingbird, stage hit, harper lee, hometown