Inherit the Wind brings 1920s courtroom to Rider

Whether it be on screen, onstage, or in real life, the nature of courtrooms is inherently tense. The defendant hopes the charges are dropped. The plaintiff fights prove to the case. All the while, the audience sits and watches these events unfold, nervously awaiting the next order of the court. Rider students will have the opportunity to sit in on a dramatic court case when they attend the university’s production of Inherit the Wind Feb. 22 through 26 in the Yvonne Theater.  

This drama focuses on the real-life Scopes “monkey” trials from the 1920s, in which a Tennessee high school teacher was charged with teaching evolution in his classroom, violating the current State law. It made headlines across the country, focusing on the question of evolution versus creationism, and the proper place of science in schools. 

“Inherit the Wind is a fictionalization of the case,” said Miriam Mills, director of Rider’s production. “Some names were changed to protect the guilty. But, it’s a close adaptation. Some of the dialogue in the play was taken right from the trial itself. It is the same story, just with different names and points of view.”

Mills went on to describe the process of developing the show, noting how difficult it was for the cast to change their view in order to get into character. “It’s a big undertaking for a liberal college student to convincingly embrace the mindset of a fundamentalist Christian from the 1920s,” she said.  “They have to persuade the audience that they really believe these things.”

From the synopsis alone, it is clear that this play contains controversial material, as its basis is the question of science contrasting with religion. Mills detailed her handling of these hot-button issues. “The play’s point of view is my own, but I have a responsibility to realize the text,” she said. While I personally can’t embrace the rejection of science, I wanted to be fair in not stereotyping the Christian side. I wanted to humanize them as much as possible.”

Mills also wanted to provide the audience with intriguing and thought-provoking material, which is refreshing and much needed in a time when much of our media seems to be lacking the depth or serious intention of past times.

As audience members go deeper and deeper into this play, they’ll be able to see the parallels between its 1920s setting and the present. The argument between evolution and creationism is still relevant today. Many schools and even universities continue to discuss which one should be taught to students. 

“There isn’t much difference between what happened 90-something years ago and today,” Mills said. Her statement rings quite true. You only need to read through a few news articles to see the similarities between what happened in the ‘20s and our modern political environment to see how just similar the two are. This parallel can most notably be seen in today’s issue of climate change science and whether or not it should be a part of educational curriculums or even recognized by the government.

However, Mills doesn’t want to be stuck on the idea that nothing has really changed. Instead, she has a different goal with this production of Inherit the Wind. “I want people to consider the options as opposed to just picking one,” she said. “We always seem to battle the other side as opposed to listening. We are more interested in destroying the countering view instead of trying to find common ground. I hope to challenge that with this show.”