The Rhea County Courthouse again rings with the fiery arguments of William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow as the 31st Scopes Festival wraps up this weekend. Three performances of "Front Page News" remain, the annual re-enactment of the famous Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee.
What makes these presentations particularly mesmerizing is that they are based on the trial transcript, presented in the courtroom where the trial was held in 1925 and the audience serves as the jury.
Three shows are left - 1 and 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 28 - in the Rhea County Courthouse, 1475 Market St., Dayton, Tennessee.
"Front Page News" is a play with music written by Jim Crabtree and original and adapted music by Bobby Taylor and Ann Crabtree. It dramatizes how a high school teacher was charged with violating a state law banning teaching the Darwinian theory of evolution in a trial that drew national attention.
"Bryan, Darrow and the other lawyers argued ideas that are still central in American life and politics," Scopes Festival Chairman Tom Davis said. "Science and religion, minority rights, academic freedom, control of public school - these were all topics debated in the trial in 1925, and it doesn't look like we've settled any of them."
This year's production features new staging by director Alexis Landry, including selecting several members of the audience to serve as the jury.
The cast includes show veterans Wes Byrd as Judge John T. Rauslton, George Miller as William Jennings Bryan, Rick Dye as Clarence Darrow and David Tromanhauser as District Attorney General Tom Stewart.
Tickets are $15 and $20.
For more information: www.scopesfestival.com.