If you go
› What: Gem Players’ “Inherit the Wind.”› When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1-3, 2:30 p.m. Sept. 4, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8-10, 2:30 p.m. Sept. 11 (box office opens one hour before show time).› Where: Gem Theater, 700 S. Tennessee Ave., Etowah, Tenn.› Admission: $12 adults, $8 children 8-10.› Phone: 423-263-3270.› Note: Tickets may be purchased in advance at Johnson’s Department Store, 814 Tennessee Ave., Etowah; and The Town Squire Men’s Wear, 1717 Keith St. NW, Cleveland, Tenn.
The Gem Players, a company based at the historic Gem Theater in Etowah, Tenn., will open their 24th season tonight, Sept. 1, with a two-weekend run of “Inherit the Wind.”
Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, this fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tenn., is presented as a theatrical drama and not as history.
The actual trial resulted in John C. Scopes’ conviction for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to a high school science class, contrary to state law. The characters of Matthew Harrison Brady, Henry Drummond, Bertram Cates and E.K. Hornbeck correspond to the historical figures of prosecutor William Jennings Bryan, defense attorney Clarence Darrow, teacher Scopes and journalist H.L. Mencken, respectively.
The authors have said they did not intend “Inherit the Wind” as an attack on fundamentalism, nor as a battle between science and religion. They wrote, “Ministers of many faiths have preached sermons about this play because they believe, as we do, that educated, scientifically aware people may still believe, deeply, in God.”
The New York News praised the play, which debuted in 1955, as “magnificently written one of the most exciting dramas of the last decade.”
The Gem Players cast this “Battle of Giants,” as the trial has been called, with veterans of the Gem stage.
Craig Laing plays the role of Drummond, the progressive and agnostic lawyer who defends the educator accused of teaching evolution. Drummond believes that “Man has a right to think.”
Bill Freeman plays the role of Brady, the fundamentalist, who is there to defend “the living truth of the Scriptures.”
Gem veteran Rick Parker completes the judicial triangle as the judge, who has the tough job of keeping the two temperamental attorneys in control.
Gary Bowman plays E.K. Hornbeck, a reporter from the Baltimore Herald.
Playing the role of Bertram Cates is a newcomer to the Gem stage, Alonzo Atkins. As the young educator, he brings innocence to an intellectual longing to know what is on “the other side of the moon.”
Also in key roles are Chuck Haggart, who plays the town’s fire-and-brimstone religious leader, and Grace Tinsley as his daughter, Rachel Brown, who is also Cates’ fiancee.
“Inherit the Wind” is directed by LaMone Rose. This marks her 49th theatrical production with the Gem Players.