Directors Note

It’s fair to say that Liz and I weren’t in the best of states the first time the title Inherit the Wind got banded around. Or the second time… Or the third. But something strange happened. Unlike when two drunken mates decide that they need to buy a bar together, every time we spoke in the sober light of day, it got more and more real somehow. We were realising quite how special this show could be.

Inherit the Wind is a play that every thinking person should see. It is a play that spans religion, biology, politics, sociology, philosophy, law, history, literature- I could go on. It is a play that emphasises to us that we should think and question, but that this right is not a given. And maybe sometimes it shouldn’t be.

I decided to move the play into the modern era to emphasise that we, as a species, are still living in the aftershocks and chemical waste of the Scopes’ Monkey Trial. As Lawrence and Lee wrote themselves, with haunting foresight, “The stage directions set the time as ‘Not too long ago’. It might have been yesterday. It could be tomorrow.” Fundamentalist groups are still putting stickers in biology textbooks, lobbying to get ‘Intelligent Design’ into school curriculums and plain and simply opposing children having the right to make up their own minds on Darwinism. But the play is not, and I do not want it to be, about religion.

Whether you are a fundamentalist religionist or an atheistic scientist, it doesn’t matter. I can’t emphasise that enough. This play has never been about conflicts between these groups. Nor is the play simply about opposing censorship. This is just the backdrop for a much bigger debate. This is a play about ideas. Freedom of ideas or protection of society- which is more important?

I don’t know. That’s for you, the audience, to think about.

I would like to do some quick thanks, because, let’s be honest- I couldn’t do this on my own. The cast and the crew of this play are what have made this possible. Obvious talent aside, your enthusiasm has been incredible and has made directing an absolute dream. I haven’t even had to dabble with alcoholism, so my liver thanks you too.

Liz, Lewis. Just, thank you. There aren’t words to describe how appreciative I am of your dedication. There are just noises that I’m not sure how to type…

And thank you to you, reading this. I hope you enjoy the show! Just remember, this is a play about ideas.

I’d tell you to draw your own conclusions.

But I want you to think for yourself.