Inherit the Wind

Synopsis

In the hot summer of 1925, the famous "Monkey Trial" took place in Dayton, Tennessee. A young teacher was accused of violating The Butler Act, which restricted the teaching of evolution in state-funded schools. The defence featured famous attorney Clarence Darrow, the prosecution starred the celebrated orator, populist, & three-time Democratic Presidential candidate Jennings Bryan. Nearly two hundred reporters descended upon the town. For the first time news of an American trial was broadcast by radio, and thousands of people went to Drayton to see the carnival for themselves. Thirty years later, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee dramatised these events into a play: Inherit the Wind. Now a classic of American theatre, it was also made into an acclaimed movie in 1960 - directed by Stanley Kramer and starring Spencer Tracy and Frederic March.

Our Review:

Simon Edge - 2 October 2009

The theory of evolution went on trial in Tennessee in 1925 with the arrest of a young science teacher for telling kids about Charles Darwin. When Jerome Lawrence and Robert E Lee wrote a play about the case 30 years later, it was seen as a metaphor for McCarthyism. Alarmingly, with creationism back in full cry in the US, it needs to be taken literally again.

We’re not in the States, though. Inherit the Wind is meant to be director Trevor Nunn’s contribution to this year’s Darwin anniversaries (200 years since his birth, 150 since the publication of Origin of the Species), but it’s much less relevant over here than in America. His caution in falling back on this occasionally clunking courtroom drama looks sadly like another example of the Old Vic’s obsession with all things American under Kevin Spacey’s helm.

Spacey himself plays defence lawyer Henry Drummond, modelled on the real-life legal magician Clar...

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Latest User Review

David Baxter - 29 November 2009:

Apparently attitudes of a significant proportion of Americans have barely moved on since 1925 which makes Inherit the Wind more topical than it should be. One of the great strengths of this country is that we can accept plays that question the tenets of what is still our majority religion -indeed at the National it's compulsory. If only theatre practitioners were brave enough to adopt an equal opportunities approach to fundamentalism in all faiths. At times this play feels very old fashioned but a courtroom confrontation almost guarantees verbal fireworks and Trevor Nunn's production does not disappoint. Despite a huge cast this is essentially a two-hander like Speed the Plow, Kevin Spacey's last appearance here (that didn't have a midweek matinee either - why?). Spacey is in superb form as the attorney fighting for the freedom to think for yourself and the biggest complement I can pay David Troughton is that he loses nothing in comparison. Inherit the Wind is a bit like theatre used to be but it's good to be reminded of old values occasionally....

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