Inherit The Wind opens Friday night
Ballina Players’ latest production, Inherit The Wind, opens this week on Friday, September 11, at 8pm at the Swift Street Theatre.
Background to the play: Charles Robert Darwin was born in England in 1809 and his bearded, beetle-browed image has become one of the totems of the 20th Century.
Charles Darwin is arguably the best-known scientist in history.
More than any modern thinker – even Freud or Marx – this affable old-world naturalist transformed the way we see ourselves on this planet.
His radical and revolutionary theories on man’s origins also caused massive upheaval, argument and controversy in 19th Century scientific, educational and religious circles – controversy which still remains active and, to many, unresolved today.
Inherit The Wind is a powerful and theatrical dramatisation of the world famous Scopes ‘Monkey Trial’ which took place in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925.
An American school-teacher was jailed for teaching Darwin’s theories, in contravention of state laws. The trial was widely publicised at the time as ‘God Vs Charles Darwin’ and created international headlines.
‘Creationism Vs Evolution’ may be seen as the ‘theme’ of Inherit The Wind, but the play is not an historical piece.
‘Creationism’ – a literal interpretation of the Bible’s Book of Genesis – is still very much alive and well internationally in 2009, the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s Origin of the Species.
‘Creationism’ (renamed as ‘Intelligent Design’) is still taught as part of the curriculum in some Australian schools, and the works and evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin are still banned in a number of schools throughout the USA and elsewhere. The argument and controversy continues.
The stage directions for Inherit The Wind set the time as ‘not too long ago’. It might have been yesterday, it could be tomorrow.
The Ballina Players’ production of Inherit The Wind will be directed by David Addenbrooke, a ‘new’ Players member who has an extensive professional theatre background, both in Australia and overseas.
The two leading roles of the opposing lawyers, Mathew Harrison Brady and Henry Drummond, will be taken by Peter Spill and Carl Moore, both well-known to our audiences.
A large supporting cast includes Bill Graham as the firebrand Reverend Jeremiah Brown, Peter Harding as Hornbeck, the cynical ‘big city’ journalist, Jordan Stotter, Natalie Chivers, Jesse Mathews-Cooke – and a large number of Hillsbro townspeople who will sing revivalist gospel songs under Leonie Elliott’s direction, and be ever-present throughout the exciting courtroom action.
Inherit The Wind guarantees audiences an evening of compelling, vivid and unforgettable theatre. A production not to be missed!
Performance dates & times:
At 8PM – 11th, 12th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 24th, 25th, 26th September
At 2PM – 13th, 20th September
