Bobby Taylor is “The Storyteller,” George Miller is William Jennings Bryan and Rick Dye is Clarence Darrow in “Front Page News.”IF YOU GO• What: Scopes Trial Play & Festival• Where: Rhea County Courthouse, 1475 Market St., Dayton, Tenn.• When: 5-8 p.m. Friday, play is at 7:30 p.m.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, play is 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; 1-8 p.m. Sunday, play is at 2:30 p.m.• Admission: $12, $18, $24• Online: www.mainstreetdayton.org, www.scopesfestival.com
Jim Crabtree and the staff at Cumberland County Playhouse will be lending their expertise at telling dramatic stories, sometimes through song, to this year’s Scopes Trial Play.
“I’ve always been interested in this story, so I am excited to be involved,” Crabtree says.
The festival portion of the weekend takes place outside the Rhea County Courthouse; the actual trial took place inside the courthouse in 1925. The festival will feature live music, including special guests Benny Williams and two descendents of the legendary Louvin Brothers, Ira’s daughter Kathy and grandson Jacob. There will also be food, antique tractors and a vintage car show.
The play and festival were cancelled two years ago between illnesses and unforeseen scheduling issues with some of the cast just weeks prior to the event. Because that year’s play featured a new play about the trial, “Front Page News” written by Deborah DeGeorge Harbin, replacing the actors was not feasible.