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“Inherit the Wind”
April 6, 2018 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
An event every week that begins at 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday, repeating until April 14, 2018
Religion, science, and politics—and the struggles that exist within and between them—are at the heart of Inherit The Wind, the story of a nation and its people as they struggle to come to grips with the forces of change.
Prairie Players Civic Theatre will present Inherit The Wind at 7:30 p.m. on April 6, 7, 13, and 14 and at 2 p.m. on April 8 and 15 at Prairie Players Civic Theatre, 160 South Seminary Street, Galesburg, Illinois. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students and can be purchased at prairieplayers.com or at 309-343-7728.
Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, Inherit the Wind dramatizes the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” of 1925, where a high school biology teacher is charged with illegally teaching the theory of evolution. Noted lawyer Henry Drummond (played by Larry Diemer) and evangelist Matthew Harrison Brady (played by John Van Ausdall) descend on a small town to argue the case of creationism versus evolution.
Director John Siebken says that while Inherit the Wind was written more than a half century ago and depicts an event from the first part of the 20th Century, it is continually brought back to the stage and screen. “The timelessness of this play lies not in the evolution versus creationism debate—which still occurs—but in its message about the sacredness of the human mind and the right of every person to think and speak out what they think, even when the masses are attempting to force conformity under some perceived authority.”
The book Civic Biology, which Scopes was teaching from at his arrest, was written in 1914 by Knox College Professor George William Hunter. A display about Hunter and the book can be viewed at the theatre during performances.
In addition to Diemer and Van Ausdall, the cast includes Sherwood Kiraly as reporter E. K. Hornbeck; Aron Whitehurst as accused teacher Bertram Cates; Ellen Larsen as Rachel Brown, fellow teacher and girlfriend of Cates and daughter of Reverend Jeremiah Brown (played by Bob Fornander); and Vera Fornander as Mrs. Brady. Cast playing townspeople, scientists, jurors, and a monkey, include Joey Lucero, Collin Sevigny, Ryan Osborn, Philip Reed, Madelyn Beck, Tanner Bryan, Jaylea Jones, Joep Huijbregts, Jackson Eisele, Ben Rezko, Leo Szaltis, Ethan Crow, Ken Maurizi, Andy Rutledge, Emily McGowan, Adriana Colindres, Julie Jones, Michael Philbee, John Siebken, Mark Kelly, Mike Mooney, Jerry Hendel, Tom Olszewski, Tom Fisher, and Nora Admire.
Assistant Director Eleanor Kahn has found working with a large cast rewarding. “I have most enjoyed watching the actors develop their characters and their relationships with each other. The show is really coming alive and I believe the audience will feel like they are right there in the courtroom.”
The Prairie Players production of Inherit the Wind is made possible through the support of Statham & Long Attorneys at Law and Knox College.
