Event

Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind (by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee) premiered in 1955. It is famous as a fictionalized retelling of the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, in which a schoolteacher was prosecuted for teaching Darwins theory of evolution in his high school science classroom, contrary to Tennessee state law. The movie of the same name (produced and directed by Stanley Kramer in 1960) featured Fredric March as Matthew Harrison Brady (understood to be based on William Jennings Bryan), and Spencer Tracy as Henry Drummond (based on Clarence Darrow) and Gene Kelly as the journalist E.K. Hornbeck (modeled on H.L. Mencken).

But the authors of the play were clear that the real subject they wished to address was the McCarthy hearings, happening in their own time. As Lawrence said about the play, Its not about science versus religion. Its about the right to think.

In a time when many Americans are questioning whether our right to think is under fire again, Hit and Run Theater Company is proud to present a staged reading of Inherit the Wind at Town Hall, presented by members of the legal community in Seattle. Director Arne Zaslove says, We feel that Town Hall is the ideal venue to invite the community into a conversation about these issues and the lawyers and judges performing these roles are the ideal people to present the case.