Archives - Audition: Inherit the Wind

Tuesday 9th February 2010 at 8pm in Room One

Playing dates: 11th to 19th June 2010

Inherit the Wind is one of several plays written by the partnership of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee that dramatise the dangers of censorship and the importance of tolerance and freedom of thought.

In this particular play, the writers use what became known as ‘The Scopes Trial’ as the source for a gripping court room drama. Inherit the Wind is a work of fiction, albeit with close parallels to the real trial of a young schoolmaster that took place in 1925 in a small town ruled by conformity and prejudice. The schoolmaster in question was prosecuted for breaching a Tennessee State law that forbade the teaching of Darwin’s principles of evolution in place of the story of the origins of man as depicted in the Book of Genesis.

Through the characters and events of the play, Lawrence and Lee emphasise their passionate belief in the value of the human mind and the necessity of seeking the truth in the face of complacency. They stress that the fight for freedom of thought is never over. Time and again issues arise that threaten to censor or limit our freedom to think. Whilst maintaining respect for ideas that we may not support, we must always be on our guard and have the courage to make a stand for what we believe in.

Cast

This is a play with a fairly enormous cast, which I have managed to reduce to twenty six speaking parts.   There are five principal male roles and two for females.

• MATTHEW HARRISON BRADY: Aged 65, a benign giant of a man. Balding, paunchy. A National politician (Democrat), acting as prosecution counsel, who gets more than he bargained for. A huge, meaty and demanding role with a great ending.
• HENRY DRUMMOND: Aged 55–65. Counsel for the defence. A high profile lawyer with a personal reputation as an agnostic. Has successfully defended a number of serious criminals. Charming, witty and quietly charismatic, he dissects his witnesses with subtlety and skill. A challenging and rewarding role that has been played by many great actors.
• E. K. HORNBECK: Aged 35–40. Newspaperman. Cynical and sophisticated city dweller. Somewhat contemptuous of the locals. Plays the role of ironic commentator throughout the proceedings.
• REVEREND JEREMIAH BROWN: 50–70 Strong minded town preacher and father of Rachel Brown. A great character part of a hell fire and damnation bible belt preacher. Leads a (rabble)rousing evangelistic prayer meeting of the townspeople at the close of Act 1.
• BERT CATES: Mid twenties. The defendant in the trial. He is in love with Rachel Brown and has two or three impassioned scenes. On stage a lot, particularly in the trial scenes.
• RACHEL BROWN: aged about 22, a young schoolteacher who is a colleague of Bert Cates. She is also in love with Bert and, as the daughter of the Reverend Brown, has very divided loyalties. She has two very touching scenes with Bert and with Drummond.
• MRS. SARAH BRADY: Late fifties or early sixties. She is pretty and fashionably dressed. She is devoted to her politician husband and is content to live her life through him.
• TOM DAVENPORT: Aged 35 to 45, he is the Circuit District Attorney in charge of the prosecution for the State of Tennessee.
• MEEKER: Early forties. The Court Bailiff. He appears regularly throughout the play. A good character part.
• ELIJAH: 40 plus. A bearded, wild-haired ‘holy man’ from the hills. A small but memorable part.
• MELINDA LOOMIS: 12 years old. She opens the play with HOWARD BLAIR, aged 13. Both of these characters appear later in the play and are great opportunities for younger members of the Barn.

The remaining fourteen speaking parts include the trial Judge, the Mayor, Jurymen, hurdygurdyman (and monkey) and citizens of the town, both male and female. All of these roles provide the opportunity for interesting doubling. Though the monkey will probably just be playing, well, the monkey.

This is a play of tension and drama but also great humour. And, for those of you who enjoy a good singsong, there will be four powerful, raise the roof renditions of some popular gospel hymns when the townsfolk go on the march, banners waving.

Scripts

To obtain a script, please contact Siobhán Elam on 01707 329379 / shillelam@aol.com or Joan Wilson on 01438 715177 / joanewilson373@btinternet.com.

Directions

The Barn Theatre is in Barn Close (off Handside Lane), Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6ST. Map

For room one, enter via the stage door, half-way down the right-hand side of the theatre viewed from Handside Lane (look for the sign “Festival costumes”.)

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