Frontiersman

WASILLA — There’s trouble brewing in Hillsboro.

Bert Cates is in jail and Rachel is allowed to talk to him on the down-low by Mr. Meeker. Seems Bert has been corrupting the town’s youth, teaching Darwinian theory in the public high school. Rachel wants him to apologize, but Bert is determined to stick with his principles.

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Bert and Rachel are among the characters in “Inherit the Wind,” a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial that ended in the conviction of a Tennessee educator for teaching evolution. The latest Valley Performing Arts production opens tonight, co-directed by Elizabeth Hanson and Marcia Beck.

The play begins with Howard and Melinda hanging out on the lawn of the Hillsboro courthouse. Howard is looking for worms after a rainstorm and tells Melinda, “When the whole world was covered with water, there was nuthin’ but worms and blobs of jelly. And  you and your whole family was worms!”

Rachel’s cavorting with colleague Bert happens outside the knowledge of her father, the local minister. Along with outsiders and reporters who descend on the town to cover Bert’s trial, and the play speeds up as the battle between prosecuting attorney Matthew Harrison Brady and defense attorney Henry Drummond begins.

Although the characters and setting are fictional, they correspond to the historical figures of attorneys William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, and defendant John Scopes. The drama comments on and explores threats to intellectual freedom presented by the anti-Communist hysteria of the time the play first premiered in 1955.

“It was written in the 1950s at the height of the McCarthy anti-communist stuff, and it’s based upon the Henry T. Scopes Monkey Trial,” said Gary Forrester, executive director for VPA. “It’s a drama about freedom of speech and it’s a drama about the relationship between fathers and daughters. It’s not just a political voice.”

Including cast and crew, more than 50 people are involved in the VPA production, Forrester said, and comes off a successful run of the comedy “I Hate Hamlet.”

Back in Hillsboro, VPA stage veterans Larry Burton and Kevin Cochran play Drummond and Brady respectively, and Tav Ammu, a newcomer to the local stage, is the young school teacher Cates, Forrester said. Cates’ love interest is Rachel, played by Cori Schleich.

Ammu “is actually a teacher here locally and he’s just a natural for the part,” Forrester said. “We’ve got a good cast of quality people in the play, a lot of newcomers, and it’s a large cast.”

The title of the play is taken from Proverbs 11:29, that reads, “He that trobleth his own house shall inherit the wind, and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.”

The ambitious work is “a strong reminder of how civil liberties are tested from time to time, and how we can never take our freedoms for granted,” says a VPA press statement about the production.

Although “Inherit the Wind” depicts fictional characters in a fictional town, it’s storyline and message are stark reminders of our freedoms and one of the most famous trials in America’s history, Forrester said.

The play opens tonight and runs through March 7.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

IF YOU GO

What: Valley Performing Arts production of “Inherit the Wind.”

When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, tonight through March 7.

Where: Valley Performing Arts, 251 W. Swanson, Wasilla.

Tickets: $16 adults, $14 seniors and students.

Contact: 373-0195 or valleyperformingarts.org.