“Inherit the Wind,” still-controversial, goes on at Sunset Playhouse

The classic American play Inherit the Wind is not often performed. There are two reasons for this. It takes a large cast, which must populate three big scenes on a large stage. And more importantly, it’s a controversial play about the debate between theories of intelligent design and evolution that still makes waves today, almost 60 years after it was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee.

Sunset Playhouse will be staging the show starting this weekend, under the direction of Brian Zelinski, and he’s appreciative to get the chance some companies haven’t over the years. Those years include this one – just this month, a Minnesota community theater company was forced to cancel their production after religious leaders from the nearby Martin Luther College objected to the play’s subject.

Here, on the other hand, Zelinski had the opposite problem – tremendous response for auditions, which he said made it difficult for him to find spots for all the talented people who came to audition. “The quality of this show is what Sunset Playhouse is all about,” Zelinski said. “I marvel at the dedication that this committed cast, crew and administrative staff have while being volunteers.”

Inherit the Wind depicts a fictionalized trial inspired by the real-life Scopes “monkey” trial in 1925, in which a Tennessee teacher was accused of teaching evolution in schools, a practice actually in the textbooks of the time but technically illegal due to a law that opposed it. As such, the play pivots around its prosecutor and defense attorneys, Matthew Harrison Brady and Henry Drummond (based on real lawyers William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow), with Zelinski casting Paul Troglia and Michael Pocaro, respectively, as the duo. Zelinski noted that the two have significant experience on Milwaukee’s stages, especially necessary because his favorite scene requires them to cross-examine each other – a tense, riveting exchange in which Drummond picks apart Brady’s reasoning.

That’s lifted right from the Scopes trial (in concept if not verbatim), but Zelinksi says the play isn’t always as accurate – and that’s a good thing. In fictionalizing the trial, he says, Lawrence and Lee have the opportunity to make allusions to McCarthyism, then a very clear and present construct in American politics, and Sunset has taken it further, shading the play with nuances that allude to contemporary events.

It’s the “ultimate tug-of-war about truth,” Zelinski says – part of the reason the show has been on his bucket list to begin with. And, I might add, part of the reason it should not be missed.

Inherit the Wind opens Friday, October 25 and runs through Sunday, November 2. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, with a 4 p.m. matinee Saturdays and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sundays. Tickets are $20. (Value Nights are $10, preview Oct 24 and Wednesday evening, November 6) Call 262-782-4430 or visit www.sunsetplayhouse.com. Sunset Playhouse, 800 Elm Grove Road, Elm Grove, WI.