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INHERIT THE WIND is presented by Doug Hughes at the Lyceum Theater, New York City, April 12, 2007, with the following cast:
| HENRY DRUMMOND | CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER |
| MATTHEW HARRISON BRADY | BRIAN DENNEHY |
| E. K. HORNBECK | DENIS O’HARE |
| MRS. BRADY | BETH FOWLER |
| RACHEL BROWN | MAGGIE LACEY |
| BERTRAM CATES | BENJAMIN WALKER |
| REV JEREMIAH BROWN | BYRON JENNINGS |
| HOWARD | CONOR DONOVAN |
| TOM DAVENPORT (Hornbeck cover) | JORDAN LAGE |
| JUDGE | TERRY BEAVER |
| MAYOR (Brady cover) | JEFF STEITZER |
| MEEKER | SCOTT SOWERS |
| MR. BANNISTER | BILL BUELL |
| MELINDA | AMANDA SPRECHER |
| DUNLAP | JAY PATTERSON |
| SILLERS | ANDREW WEEMS |
| MR. GOODFELLOW | HENRY STRAM |
| MRS. KREBS | CHARLOTTE MAIER |
| MRS. BLAIR (Woman at Prayer meeting cover) | PIPPA PEARTHREE |
| VENDOR (Meeker/Mr. Goodfellow cover) | BILL CHRIST |
| ELIJAH | LANNY FLAHERTY |
| HARRY Y. ESTERBROOK/REUTER’S MAN (Bertram Cates /Photographer cover) | ERIK STEELE |
| MONKEY MAN/KELLER | KEVIN LOOMIS |
| TIMMY (Howard/Melinda cover) | MATTHEW NARDOZZI |
| MRS. LOOMIS (Rachel cover) | ANNE BOWLES |
| TOWNSPERSON/CHURCH GOSPEL QUARTET | DAVID M. LUTKEN |
| TOWNSPERSON/CHURCH GOSPEL QUARTET | CARSON CHURCH |
| TOWNSPERSON/CHURCH GOSPEL QUARTET | MARY KATE LAW |
| TOWNSPERSON/CHURCH GOSPEL QUARTET | KATIE KLAUS |
| TOWNSPERSON/AARONSON (Henry Drummond/Monkey Man covers) | SHERMAN HOWARD |
| TOWNSPERSON/PHOTOGRAPHER (Harry Y. Esterbrook/Tom Davenport/Vendor covers) | PHILIP LESTRANGE |
| TOWNSPERSON (Elijah/Sillers/Dunlap covers) | KIT FLANAGAN |
| TOWNSPERSON (Judge/Mayor/Mr. Bannister covers) | RANDALL NEWSOME |
| TOWNSPERSON (Mrs. Brady/Mrs. Krebs/Mrs. Blair cover) | STEVE BRADY |
Time: Summer. Not too long ago.
Place: A small town.
Inherit the Wind is not history. The events which took place in Dayton, Tennessee, during the scorching July of 1925 are clearly the genesis of this play. It has, however, an exodus entirely its own.
Only a handful of phrases have been taken from the actual transcript of the famous Scopes Trial. Some of the characters of the play are related to the colorful figures in that battle of giants; but they have life and language of their own—and, therefore, names of their own.
The greatest reporters and historians of the century have written millions of words about the “Monkey Trial.” We are indebted to them for their brilliant reportage. And we are grateful to the late Arthur Garfield Hays, who recounted to us much of the unwritten vividness of the Dayton adventure from his own memory and experience.
The collision of Bryan and Darrow at Dayton was dramatic, but it was not a drama. Moreover, the issues of their conflict have acquired new dimension and meaning in the thirty years since they clashed at the Rhea County Courthouse. So Inherit the Wind does not pretend to be journalism. It is theatre. It is not 1925. The stage directions set the time as “Not too long ago.” It might have been yesterday. It could be tomorrow.
JEROME LAWRENCE
ROBERT E. LEE
ACT ONE
ACT ONE
SCENE I
In and around the Hillsboro Courthouse. The foreground is the actual courtroom, with jury box, judge’s bench and a scattering of trial-scarred chairs and counsel tables. The back wall of the courtroom is non-existent. On a raked level above it is the courthouse square, the Main Street and the converging streets of the town. This is not so much a literal view of Hillsboro as it is an impression of a sleepy, obscure country town about to be vigorously awakened.