Inherit the Wind performs for full house

The Cardinal Stage Company presented the play “Inherit the Wind” to a full house Saturday night at the Waldron Auditorium. 

The cast performed the play to relive the controversial 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. The theater was transformed into a courtroom, and issues of human suppression were debated.

“I think the most unusual thing is that the play is set almost 100 years ago and dueling ideas of creationism and evolution are still argued today,” Bloomington resident Bob Fields said.

The College of Arts and Sciences featured “Inherit the Wind” in light of IU’s first Themester focusing on “Evolution, Diversity, and Change.”

“Besides being a classic, ‘Inherit the Wind’ brings social sciences, arts and human rights together to draw a variety of approaches and perspectives,” English professor Stephen Watt said.

The play begins with a boy dangling worms at a girl as he teasingly tells her she was a worm once and the whole world was once covered by worms and blobs of jelly.

Although the teen was fooling around, his joke displays the possibilities and wonders of life.

The stage was positioned with the audience level, so from all angles, the play gave the effect of an actual court case. 

The audience practically blended with the characters, and at one point, audience members were spoken to directly as if they were involved in the script.

Director of Alumni Relations for the College of Arts and Sciences Marsha Minton said she was so close to the performance that it was hard to stop herself from joining in.

The play tells the story of a high school biology teacher named Bertram Cates, played by Brian Bradshaw, who was accused of breaking a state law by educating his students about Darwin’s theories of evolution.

Cates and his defense attorney, Henry Drummond, played by Danny Goldring, stood on their own team. 

In opposition to Cates was the town of Hillsboro, the state of Tennessee and, naturally, the prosecuting attorney, Matthew Harrison Brady, who was played by Ernest Perry, Jr. 

While inside the courtroom, the lawyers fought beliefs. Outside the courtroom, however, there was more than an ordinary battle.

Bloomington resident Jane Marsh said her favorite part was the contrast between the lawyers and the irony of their friendship.

While waiting for the announcement of verdict, Drummond tells Cates a personal childhood tale about how the beautiful rocking horse he wanted so badly broke on the first ride.

Drummond’s lesson was, “all shine and no substance.” This means that people must look deeper than face value.

Modern adjustments were applied to Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence’s 1955 script, originally set in 1925. 

“It’s what Cates stood for rather than what he said,” Natalie Wenzler, an IU alumna, said.