Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind a play by American playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. The play, which debuted in 1955, is a story that fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means to discuss the then-contemporary McCarthy trials. However, with the rise of American Christian fundamentalism with its open political influence beginning in the 1980s and its challenge to the concept of the separation of church and state, including the teaching of evolution in public schools, the play's overt addressing of the conflict of religious faith and freedom of thought has had considerable contemporary resonance, as evidenced by the play's numerous revivals and screen adaptations decades after its initial theatrical run. Inherit the Wind opened with actors Paul Muni, Ed Begley, and Tony Randall under the direction of Margo Jones on January 10, 1955. It debuted at Broadway's National Theatre on April 21, 1955. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inherit_the_Wind_(play)). A 1960 Hollywood film adaptation of the play of the same name was directed by Stanley Kramer.

In South Africa the play was produced by the Cockpit Players circa 1960 for which Leonard Schach hired the Brooke Theatre, with Leon Gluckman and John McKelvey.

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