Robert E. Lee (2) (1918–1994)

A high school teacher in a small town in Tennessee is arrested and put on trial for telling students about evolution, which is illegal. Representing the state is Matthew Harrison Brady, religious Fundamentalist and celebrity orator. Representing the teacher is Henry Drummond, a famous defense attorney hired by a distant newspaper, the Baltimore Herald, to ensure an exciting trial. Denied access to any kind of expert testimony by a biased judge, Drummond calls Brady himself to the stand, show more exposing the hypocrisy of his Fundamentalism.

This play is based on a real trial from 1925, dramatized as a commentary on McCarthyism. As a play it’s pretty dry but is saved by the character of E. K. Hornbeck, a cocky and cynical journalist from Baltimore who speaks in verse while everyone else sounds folksy. As a commentary on McCarthyism I’m not sure it really works. As has been seen recently, many who profess to believe in freedom of thought and are concerned about government overreach are perfectly happy to weaponize it against others whenever possible and don’t care one bit about being hypocritical. The idea that a liberal’s rhetorical flourish could turn a modern-day populist into a laughingstock is itself laughable.

One thing I was really struck by in this reread, my first in several decades, is the fatphobia. Brady is constantly described as a large man, criticized and ridiculed for his overeating, and then he dies of it. What does that add to the story? Absolutely nothing. show less

Inherit the Wind, a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial in which a Tennessee high school teacher was put on trial for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution in violation of state law, remains a compelling courtroom drama. With a winning combination of wise and powerful legal arguments and wry humor, this classic stage play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee portrays an epic battle between science and theology. And given the Trump administration’s systematic diminution show more of science in its formulation of climate, energy, and environmental policies, Inherit the Wind has attained renewed relevance. show less

What makes _Inherit the Wind_ a memorable play is not that it skewers Christian fundamentalism - instead it goes after all of those who are too narrowminded to see an issue from another's point of view. This is demonstrated in the character of Hornbeck, a big city reporter who looks down his nose at the both the rubes of Hillsboro and the passion of Matthew Brady. This play is not a pro-evolution screed; rather, it is a testament to the importance of open-mindedness.

This volume contains the text of the play Inherit the Wind, as performed in 1955. I'm not sure how close it is to the movie version of the same name, since it's been at least a couple of decades since I've seen that. It is, of course, based on the (in)famous Scopes Monkey Trial, in which a schoolteacher was prosecuted for violating a law banning the teaching of evolution.

Although it's inspired by the real-life events, this story should not be mistaken for history (as an introductory note show more from the playwrights makes appropriately clear). It's probably not very realistic as a depiction of what goes on in courtrooms, either. And it's not exactly subtle about making its scientific inquiry-vs-religious dogma point. But is is a good drama, with some fantastic lines of dialog. And, subtle or not, the point it's making is certainly one I can get behind. I enjoyed it a lot. show less