Inherit the Wind, Arena Stage, Washington, DC

 

The company of Inherit the Wind, playing at Arena Stage through April 5. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

I am an artificial intelligence (AI) skeptic. But, just out of curiosity, and because so many things are described as superlatives of the century, I asked Google for the most significant trials of the 20^th century. You may (or may not) be surprised at the four that Google’s AI gave me: three murder trials (Sacco and Vanzetti, 1921; the Lindbergh Kidnapping case, 1932; and O. J. Simpson, 1994), as well as the so-called “Scopes Monkey Trial” from 1925.

Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee dramatized the Scopes trial in their 1955 play, Inherit the Wind. Like many current “ripped from the headlines” dramatizations, the playwrights changed some details in reimagining true events, but the essence of that trial and its central ideas remained. First produced during the McCarthy Era, when attempts were made to limit expressions of free thought, the play resonated with its audiences. Now, 70 years after the play was written and 100 years after the events portrayed, it continues to resonate as science is disbelieved and freedom of thought challenged.

In a fictional town called Hillsboro in a never-specified state (although the real Scopes trial was held in Dayton, Tennessee), a high school biology teacher has been jailed for sharing with his class excerpts from Charles Darwin’s The Origin of the Species, in which Darwin describes the theory of evolution. Darwin challenged Biblical interpretations of creation; by teaching about the theory the teacher has broken state law, setting the stage for a fiery confrontation between faith and science.

The importance of the question is reinforced when two of the most prominent attorneys in the country, Matthew Harrison Brady (based on three-time presidential contender William Jennings Bryan) for the state and Henry Drummond (based on Clarence Darrow) defending teacher Bertram Cates. Cates is dating another teacher, Rachel Brown, who is the daughter of the town’s fundamentalist minister. Rachel is torn between Cates and her father. Following the action is a writer (a critic, he says, not a reporter) from a Baltimore newspaper, E. K. Hornbeck.

The ensuing trial is a clash of opposites in every respect. Bible-thumper Brady is clearly the favorite of the small-town folks, who treat the smooth-talking, science-supporting Drummond with disdain. The judge makes his leanings obvious as he disqualifies all of the scientific experts Drummond has enlisted to build his case for scientific proof. The case, after all, is that the teacher has broken a state law relative to the sanctity of teaching the Biblical version of creation. Left with no other alternatives, agnostic Drummond decides in a highly unusual move to question Brady himself as an expert on the Bible. Unflappable, Brady submits to Drummond’s questioning, insisting that the Bible is to be taken literally, from God creating the world in six days to Jonah being swallowed by a whale, and Noah and his family surviving the flood.

Ultimately, Brady wins the verdict, but Drummond’s case has brought the question of evolution to the national conscience. Though Cates is found guilty of breaking the state’s anti-evolution law, the judge unexpectedly assesses a fine of just $100. Brady complains that the sentence is unreasonably lenient and attempts to launch into another impassioned address, only to be cut off by the judge.

Billy Eugene Jones as Henry Drummond, Dakin Matthews as Matthew Harrison Brady, and Holly Twyford as Mrs. Brady in Inherit the Wind. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

Inherit the Wind has an important role in the history of Arena Stage: in 1973, Arena founder Zelda Fichandler took a company of American actors to the Soviet Union, the first time an American company had performed there. While it might appear to be an unlikely choice since it portrays opposing beliefs among Americans, the play reinforces the importance of individual thought. Ultimately, this dichotomy is the essence of the American character.

Brady and Drummond are undoubtedly two of the juiciest roles in American drama for mature actors. Consider those who have brought the roles to life: the original 1955 Broadway production starred Ed Begley and Paul Muni; a 1996 revival starred Charles Durning and George C. Scott; and in 2007, Brian Dennehy and Christopher Plummer took on the roles. The 1960 film starred Fredric March and Spencer Tracy. Subsequent television productions starred Ed Begley and Melvyn Douglas (1965), Kirk Douglas and Jason Robards (1988), and George C. Scott and Jack Lemmon (1999). (Note: in these pairings, the actor playing Brady is listed first. George C. Scott played both roles: Drummond in the 1996 Broadway revival and Brady in the 1999 television version.) Dakin Matthews and Billy Eugene Jones of Arena Stage are the current inhabitants of those cherished roles.

The Arena production is in association with the Feast, a Seattle-based regional theatre founded by Ryan Guzzo Purcell, who directs this production. Purcell’s direction is clean and even-handed, making effective use of the Arena’s Fichandler stage: though it seems to me that the playwrights favor the science approach to the Biblical literalists, Purcell ensures that there is a balance between the two systems of belief.

Purcell directs a strong cast. Dakin Matthews is one of those actors that you know you have seen but aren’t necessarily sure where, a veteran of numerous Broadway productions, some 200 regional theatre productions, 30 films, and 300 television appearances. He wears Matthew Harrison Brady as comfortably and naturally as his white suit and Southern drawl, casting a spell over the courtroom and the theatre audience simultaneously. His is a masterful performance.

Noah Plomgren as Bertram Cates and Billy Eugene Jones as Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

Billy Eugene Jones as Henry Drummond faces an uphill battle as a voice of liberalism and “freedom of thought” against his Bible-quoting antagonist. Jones, however, is up to the task, matching Matthews’s Brady step by step, fighting the good fight while trying to remain respectful of the opposing side. Jones’s Drummond is idealistic and forward-looking: he recognizes that he may lose this particular battle, but is steadfast in his belief that his ideology will eventually win the war.

Noah Plomgren is suitably earnest and sincere as the aggrieved teacher Cates. His love for Rachel is sincere, but so is his commitment to the science that he believes tells the truth. Rebecca Madeira as Rachel effectively portrays the angst her character experiences as she is torn between her love for Cates and her devotion to her evangelical minister father. The only other “named” character is journalist E. K. Hornbeck, well played by Alyssa Keegan. Keegan’s Hornbeck provides some necessary exposition but remains largely outside the main action. As the outsider, Hornbeck is the character who can challenge the beliefs of some of the townspeople and eventually both attorneys.

Six actors are credited as “Ensemble,” taking on numerous roles, sometimes of different genders, as “minor” but essential characters in the play. I wish that the program had delineated which one played which roles. Some were more convincing than others as they play characters of both genders and a variety of ages, but all fulfilled the challenges of their missions admirably. I salute Jordan Friend, Natalya Lynette Rathnam, Todd Scofield, Tristan Turner, and Holly Twyford. For instance, Twyford, one of DC theatre’s most honored and recognizable performers, played (among others) a jail employee/bailiff, Brady’s long-suffering but concerned wife, and the jury foreman.

Changes from one character to another among the ensemble were largely accomplished by adding or subtracting costume pieces (designed by An-Lin Dauber), so that actors could effectively slip into roles without accompanying dialogue (for example, two ensemble members “suited up” in lab coats as potential scientific defense witnesses, only to discard their new costumes as they were dismissed from the courtroom). While this conceit generally worked, I found myself wondering what the time period it is supposed to be. (Some costume pieces seemed wholly contemporary, while others had a period feel.) This was also reiterated in other ways: a 50-star United States flag adorned one of the entrances, which would not have been correct until 1960. This may be an effort to place the time period as “sometime in the 20^th century,” just as the setting is described in the program as “Hillsboro, an obscure country town.”

The company of Inherit the Wind at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

Tanya Orellana’s set design suits the play: what appears to be a floor of an orangish sand with a number of wooden palette-like pieces that are moved into various positions to simulate the courtroom and other locales. Xavier Pierce’s lighting design is mostly subtle (but sometimes less so at appropriate times) in adding to the play’s emphasis. Paul James Prendergast’s musical composition and sound design similarly add to the production, ensuring that the dialogue is understood and enhancing transitions from one scene to the next. Additionally, on-stage instruments being played and religious songs being sung (the play begins with the hymn “Abide with Me”) seem very much organic to the play.

See Inherit the Wind at Arena Stage before it closes on April 5 if you are interested in a thoughtful, serious, timely discussion of free thinking and dogma, as well as if you want to see a first-class cast of expert performances. It is a fascinating look at a moment of great significance in American history with lessons for us in 2026.