Mask and Mirror Community Theatre will continue its 13th season March 1 with Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee’s dramatized depiction of the 1925 Scopes “monkey” trial, Inherit the Wind. Directed by Aaron Morrow and assistant directed by Pax Bennett, the classic religion-vs-evolution drama will be produced on The Main Stage at Rise Church, 10445 Canterbury Lane, Tigard, March 1–17. Performance times for the three weekends are 7:30 pm Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 Sundays.
School teacher Bertram T. Cates (Les Ico) is put on trial for violating the Butler Act, a state law prohibiting public school teachers from teaching evolution instead of creationism. Drawing intense national scrutiny through the reporting of E. K. Hornbeck (Karen Huckfeldt Schlecht), the groundbreaking trial pits two of the nation’s leading high-profile lawyers. The audience will be transported to the Midwest during a hot and sultry July 1925 where prosecutor Matthew Harrison Brady [William Jennings Bryan’s alter ego] (David Fuks) and defense attorney Henry Drummond [Clarence Darrow’s alter ego] (Stan Yeend) go head-to-head in a heated theological contest to decide whether evolution should be taught in schools.
First staged at the height of McCarthyism, this incredible story continues to be frighteningly relevant 70 years later.
Morrow’s sizable cast features additional seasoned and newer performers Dwayne Thurnau as Mr. Bannister/Jury, Andrew Ross as Howard Blair, Cynthia Lund as Mrs. Blair, Evan Seifert as Mr. Bollinger/Jury, Bonnie Scott as Mrs. Bollinger, Finn Lee as Faith Bollinger, Donna Haub as Sarah Brady, John Bartholomew as Reverend Jeremiah Brown, Liana Dillaway as Rachel Brown, Jeff Gardner as Tom Davenport, Robert Keith as Jesse H. Dunlap/Cooper, Gnyanesh Trivedi as Elijah, Gregory Hutzell as Harry Y. Esterbrook/Reuters Man, Maxine Fountain as Mrs. Goodfellow, Judy Brant as The Judge, Bonnie Scott as Mrs. Krebs, Hannah Koudelka as Melinda Loomis, Alice Dalrymple as Mrs. Loomis, Mark Milner as The Mayor, Sharon Prange as Mrs. McClain, Matthew Grand as Meeker, Harry Bartley as George Sillers/Jury, and Brittney McCoy as Katie Towne. The audience will feel part of the action as well, filling in as townspeople and the gallery of trial spectators.
Morrow’s crew includes Doreen Lundberg as Stage Manager, Kathryn Stevens as Props Mistress, Cindy Zimmerman as Set Dresser, and Steve Hotaling as Light and Sound Operator.
Morrow states, “Pax and I are absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to direct such an enormously talented cast of characters in Inherit the Wind. This is a true bucket list opportunity for us to share with the audience the story which is based on real events. This dramatization reminds us of the extraordinary impact of the Creation versus Evolution battle fought between two icons of the courtroom and the tumult of a small town caught in the crosshairs of the debate.”
Mask & Mirror Community Theatre is a 501(c)3 non-profit performing company. Your support is very much appreciated. Additional information can be obtained by visiting www.maskandmirror.com.
