Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006 | 12:30 p.m.
Schools, churches, scientists and the courts are arguing over the teaching of creationism and evolution. School board decisions are being challenged. Fur is flying.
In 1925 the same argument played out in a courtroom in Dayton, Tenn. It was a publicity stunt for the little-known town that became, for a while, an intellectual battleground for the traditionalist vs. modernist debate.
Thirty years later Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee responded to the anti-intellectualism sweeping the country by writing a fictional account of the State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes (aka the Monkey Trial) as a play about freedom of thought.
"Inherit the Wind'' was a success. Audiences loved it, as did critics, and the play went on to become an American classic read in classrooms and performed in theaters across the country and was made into four movies.
But similar to the play's controversial subject matter, its tenor has also been a source of contention. While critics and theater buffs see it as pro-tolerance, others argue that it's propaganda for evolution that mocks and vilifies Christians.
Over the years some interest groups and media have misinterpreted "Inherit the Wind," condemning it for its lack of historical accuracy, even though it wasn't written as a historical account.
But Robert Benedetti, who is directing Nevada Conservatory Theatre's production of "Inherit the Wind," would prefer if we looked at the play for what it is: "Great theater."
"It's one of the three icons of American theater, among 'Death of a Salesman' and 'The Glass Menagerie,'" said Benedetti, who recently joined UNLV's Theater Department after a lengthy career directing and teaching at various universities and winning Emmy and Peabody awards as a producer.
"It's an extremely satisfying play, well written and clearly constructed," he said. "It dramatizes the issue in a couple of characters that we come to know quite well."
But John Calvert, director of Kansas-based Intelligent Design Network, who argued with a school over the showing of the movie "Inherit the Wind" in a biology class, says, "It portrays Christians as bigots, narrow-minded ignoramuses. It has no scientific study. It doesn't teach anything about evolution. It's propaganda."
Benedetti counters that, "This is not political theater. Propaganda depends on controversy for vitality. This play has vitality independent of the controversy."
The play, he said, has a much broader, more universal theme than evolution.
In the town of Dayton, a football coach and substitute biology teacher taught evolution from a textbook after the Butler Act had been deemed unlawful to teach anything that denies creation as depicted in the Bible.
The trial, inspired by an ad from the American Civil Liberties Union offering to represent anyone who went against the law, became a media circus in the conservative Christian town. It brought in attorneys who challenged literal interpretations of the Bible and promoted individual liberties.
The NCT production opens Friday. It features G.W. Bailey in the role of Henry Drummond and Steve Vinnovich in the role of William Harrison Brady.
It's timely. It follows a federal judge's December ruling that bars a Pennsylvania school district from discussing intelligent design as an alternative to evolution and creationists flooding natural history museums to challenge tour guides on scientific beliefs.
"At 51 years old, it's extremely relevant to specifics of the current situation," Benedetti said. "The way it's framed is virtually unchanged from the nature of the debate we're having now.
"It is a debate that is important to people. The debate is in reasonableness. And the ability to conduct this (debate) in a reasonable way has somewhat been lost by overblown rhetoric or emotionalism of those on the right."
Of "Inherit the Wind," Benedetti added, "It doesn't mock Christianity. Quite the contrary. It's that you have to have mutual respect and open-mindedness on both sides.
"It's about tolerance and understanding, which is something we need more of. It really makes an appeal to both sides of the argument."
Bob Brewer, artistic director of the Nevada Conservatory Theater, says "Inherit the Wind" was selected for its timeliness.
"It's a good play to speak to the issues," Brewer said.
"Ticket sales have been rather brisk. If it gets people to think, I'll consider it a success, a victory.''
Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at [email protected].
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