If you go
› What: “Front Page News”› Where: Rhea County Courthouse, 1475 Market St., Dayton, Tennessee› When: 7:30 p.m. July 20, 1 and 5 p.m. July 21, 2:30 p.m. July 22, 1 and 5 p.m. July 28, 2:30 p.m. July 29› Admission: $10 or $15 reserved seating› For more information: scopesfestival.com
"Front Page News" trial re-enactment takes place in the courtroom of the Rhea County Courthouse.
A bluegrass contest will be held on the courthouse lawn on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. Valley Grass Express from Pikeville, Tennessee, shown, winners of the first bluegrass contest last year, will be back to defend their title. (Keener Marketing contributed photo)
Bryan College student Austin Marsh will make his debut in "Front Page News" as John Thomas Scopes.In July 1925, the nation watched as the legal case of the state of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes - aka The Scopes Monkey Trial - played out in a courtroom in Dayton, Tennessee.
A substitute high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating the Butler Act, which made it against the law to teach human evolution in a state-funded school. William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate, argued for the prosecution, while famous attorney Clarence Darrow defended Scopes.
The high-profile trial highlighted a science vs. religion controversy, in which Modernists said evolution was not inconsistent with religion, while Fundamentalists declared the word of God as told in the Bible took priority over human knowledge.
This weekend, Rhea County will again be the center of attention when the 30th anniversary of the Scopes Festival takes place. As is tradition, a re-enactment of the 1925 trial will be presented in the actual courtroom where the trial took place. In that play, "Front Page News," the audience becomes the courtroom's spectators, making them part of the cast.
The festival also includes a classic-car cruise-in around the courthouse square, quilt show, nine craftsmen demonstrating skills of the 1920s on the courthouse lawn and a bluegrass contest.
Tom Davis, festival chairman, says the drama's cast includes people from Rhea County, Chattanooga, Cookeville, Athens "and points in between."
"These are all people who have been interested and auditioned and wanted to be part of it," he says. "George Miller plays William Jennings Bryan. This is his fifth year to do so. He is a military veteran who lives in Dayton. Rick Dye, also from Dayton, is Darrow."
Making his debut as John Thomas Scopes will be rising Bryan College senior Austin Marsh from Pulaski, Tennessee. Marsh is an English education major, minoring in theater. At Bryan, he is a Hilltop Player and student body vice president.
Marsh says he knew a little about the trial - had read "Inherit the Wind" in high school - but outside of that his knowledge was limited. Since landing the Scopes role, he says he's done a lot of research, read Scopes' memoir and read "Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion" by Edward Larson.
The Bryan student had never seen "Front Page News" before auditioning, but says he was intrigued by its setting in the actual courtroom in which the trial occurred.
"To take part in the place where it actually happened is kind of chilling," he says.
"The thing most intriguing to me was how the Dayton business leaders and civic leaders set the thing up as a publicity stunt. That the whole story was an act of theater, and the lengths that these lawyers were willing to go to fight for something they believed in, even though they knew it was a theatrical stunt."
Festival weekend kicks off Friday night, July 20, with music in Centennial Park, which is across Second Avenue from the courthouse. Julie Keener of Keener Marketing says two Rhea County bands will perform: The Jug Band at 5:30 p.m. and Rhea Springs Revival at 7:30 p.m.
"There will be craft vendors, bounce houses for the kids and giveaways - and it's all free," she says.
The main celebration takes place Saturday, July 21, around the courthouse. Following is a rundown of the schedule:
» 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Walden's Ridge Quilt Guild hosts quilt show in the courthouse.
» 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Classic car cruise-in on courthouse square. Open to the public, no entry fee. First 50 entrants receive dash plaques. Audience Favorite Award presented at 4 p.m.
» 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Second Scopes Festival Bluegrass Contest on the courthouse lawn for individuals and bands. Entry fee is $20 individuals, $50 bands. Championship rounds begin at 3 p.m. for individual competitors, 5 p.m. for bands.
Individuals and bands are given 15 minutes onstage to impress the judges. Valley Grass Express from Pikeville, winners of the inaugural bluegrass contest last year, will be back to defend their title.
"We have 10 bands and 20 individuals signed up and are expecting lots more," says Keener. "It has doubled in size from last year. I had a lot of people sign up the day of last year, but this is the last year we will allow entrants to sign up at the event."
The first-place winner in the band division will receive $1,000. There are four categories for individuals, and first-place in each will receive $500.
Keener invites the public to bring a folding chair, their cooler and set up under a shade tree to enjoy the music.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.