“Inherit The Wind”

In this solid drama ( with several funny touches) superbly directed by Henry Godinez, we visit a small town where there is a school teacher who brought to his students the theory of “evolution” and Charles Darwin! This play takes us back to that time and what was known as “The Scopes Trial”. Can we allow our children to learn things that are not in the bible? How can anyone think that  we evolved from the monkeys and apes? Yes, if one looks at them closely, one can see they do resemble us in many ways, and they do things like we do, albeit, with less style and grace, but Darwin’s theory might be factual. In this story, two high achieving attorneys test the case as to whether or not we should be able to explore and see what life is all about. We should be able to think for ourselves and learn. After all, in the bible it says that God created Adam and Eve. They had two sons, Cain and Abel. The question arises, who did they mate with? Who did all the “begating” in the bible? Perhaps our teacher, Bertram Cates ( Christopher Llewyn Ramirez) was right, after all!

I won’t give away the story line, but will tell you that this cast was powerful. I always say that some plays need a tight ensemble to make it work, and this is one of those spots. While Harry Lennix is absolutely convincing   in the role of Henry Drummond, the Chicago attorney brought in to defend Bertram, and Alexander Gemignani is perfect inn the role of Matthew Harrison Brady, his opponent, it takes a village ( the ensemble) to truly make this production stand out as one of the year’s best!

Godinez and company have found the perfect cast of players: Charin Alvarez, Terry Bell, Hamid Dehghani, William Dick ( as the town Mayor), Meighan Gerachis, Lawrence Grimm ( in several roles including the radio announcer from WGN-Chicago), Kevin Gudahl ( as the trial Judge), Presley Rose Jones, Christopher Kale Jones, Mi Kane ( as reporter  E.K.Hornbeck),Ryan Kitley ( a strong Reverend Jeremiah Brown), Tyler Meredith ( Rachel Brown, “friend” of Bert and daughter of the town preacher),Thomas Murphy Molony, Robert Schleifer, Eric Slater and Penelope Walker. Together, this cast makes this 2 hours and 25 minutes ( including one 15 minute intermission) a delightful theater experience and at the same time, helps us understand why we need to be able to think for ourselves and understand the world we live in.

FYI- They have done some transitions to the Albert for this one, taking out several rows of seats on the main floor ( center). Collette Pollard’s set design is simple yet perfect, as it is the words and how they are said that truly tells this story. Jessica Pabst has done the costumes which are perfect for rural America in this period and the lighting (Jason Lynch) and sound (Richard Woodbury, who also did the original music) are right on.

This is a special production and one that I suggest you try to see before you vote. While it is not a political story, it lends itself to what we need to do today, just as we needed to do some 70 years ago.