"Inherit the Wind" by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee [Theater Program]

Abstract

(Playbill produced by the Yeshiva College Speech and Drama Department and the YCDS.) ABOUT THE PLAY Inherit The Wind is not history. The events which took place in Dayton, Tennessee, during the scorching July of 1925 are clearly the genesis of this play. It has, however, an exodus entirely its own. •Only a handful of phrases have been taken from the actual transcript of the famous Scopes trial. Some of the characters of the play are related to the colorful figures in that battle of giants; but they have life and language of their own- and, therefore, names of their own. •The collision of Bryan and Darrow at Dayton was dramatic, but it was not a drama. Moreover, the issues of their conflict have acquired new dimensions and meaning in the years since they clashed at the Rhea County Courthouse. So Inherit The Wind does not pretend to be journalism. It is theater. It is not 1925. The stage directions set the time as "Not too long ago." It might have been yesterday. It could be tomorrow.