SYNOPSIS
Inherit The WindJerome Lawrence and Robert E Lee’s dramatisation of the famous ‘Monkey’ Trial of 1925 is brought back to the stage for the Old Vic’s 2009 season, marking the 150th Anniversary of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin Of The Species”. Kevin Spacey stars in “Inherit The Wind”, working under the direction of Trevor Nunn, who brought great acclaim to the venue for 2005’s “Richard II”, in which Spacey also starred.
“The Origin Of The Species” was a revolutionary book, which completely redefined man’s place on the planet and offered a convincing explanation for the development of life on Earth. However, such a theory has never been without its sceptics and this led to many competing ideas coming head to head.
One significant place in which the controversy really came into play was in 1925 when a science teacher named John Scopes was about to make many enemies in the state of Tennessee. According to the state’s ‘Butler Act’, it was prohibited to teach Darwin’s theory in state schools – something which Scopes decided to violate when he taught it to his high school students. Suddenly freedom of thought and expression was on trial as legal titans were brought in to represent both sides of the debate. On one side was the famous defence attorney Clarence Darrow and on the other was the prosecutor Jennings Bryan, who had been a Democratic Presidential candidate on three occasions. The country was gripped by the case, with hundreds of reporters descending on the town of Drayton to cover the media event.
There have been many times in history where the idea of freedom has been under threat, or people have been unfairly victimised because of their beliefs (or alleged beliefs). In the 1950s this took the form of the anti-communist ‘witch hunts’ implemented by Senator Joseph McCarthy in America, whereby people who were suspected of being communist sympathisers were victimised, often leading to the loss of jobs and a mark against their name. This was going on in 1955 when Lawrence and Lee penned “Inherit The Wind”, making the dramatisation of one event a criticism of another. However, it was not the only time an older historical event was used to paint the picture of 1950s America with Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” comparing it to the famous Salem Witch Trials.
“Inherit The Wind” is at the Old Vic from Friday 18th September 2009 to Sunday 20th December 2009.
