Inherit the Wind

By JEREMY GERARD

Inherit the Wind (Royale Theater, New York; 1,054 seats; $ 60 top) A National Actors Theater presentation of a play in three acts (one intermission) by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Directed by John Tillinger.
 
Cast: Kate Forbes (Rachel Brown), Tom Stechschulte (Meeker), Garret Dillahunt (Bertram Cates), Tom Aldredge (Rev. Brown), Anthony Heald (E.K. Hornbeck), Charles Durning (Matthew Harrison Brady), Bette Henritze (Mrs. Brady), Herndon Lackey (Tom Davenport), George C. Scott (Henry Drummond), Michael Lombard (Judge); Reathel Bean, Marylouise Burke, Fred Furrell, Allie Calnan, Alice Connoorton, Dominic Cuskern, Paul F. Dano, David Dossey, Clement Fowler, John Griesemer, Prudence Wright Holmes, J.R. Horne, Robert Jimenez, Craig Lawlor, Kevin McClarnon, Joyce Lynn O'Connor, Ronn K. Smith, Norman Snow, Kenneth P. Strong, etc. Looking for all the world like a latter-day Lionel Barrymore, George C. Scott handily dominates the stage of the Royale Theater with the firepower of a genuine star determined to light up an otherwise lackluster universe. Tony Randall had great hopes for his National Actors Theater production of "Inherit the Wind," in the 1955 Broadway premiere of which he himself had played a major role. What's onstage, however -- Scott's charismatic performance aside -- is at best a wan revival, sabotaged by some key staging and casting missteps.
 

Chief among them is the casting of Charles Durning as Matthew Harrison Brady opposite Scott's Henry Drummond. The roles were based on the perennial presidential hopeful William Jennings Bryan and his ideological nemesis, lawyer Clarence Darrow, in Lawrence and Lee's fictionalized account of their showdown at the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial in Dayton, Tenn.

In a confrontation that remains all too familiar, the right of a teacher to introduce Darwin's theory of evolution had come smack up against a community's insistence that anything deviating from Scripture was evil, the work of the devil.

Drummond and Brady were originated on Broadway by Paul Muni and Ed Begley, respectively; in Stanley Kramer's superb 1960 film they were played by Spencer Tracy and Fredric March. In both cases, the actors were equals, portraying men whose friendship has long since turned to animosity yet who still retain a grudging admiration for each other. But Durning's soft, tentative Brady is no match for Scott's inspired Drummond.

Brady here seems slow, winded and defeated from the outset, and so the play is robbed of its power to electrify. (That Durning was struggling with his lines at the performance was no help, either.)

Other choices also work against John Tillinger's staging. James Noone's stolid downfront courtroom setting forces the actors to shout from the far reaches of the Royale during the play's first half hour -- making it virtually impossible for any character to be established. Most hurt by this is the very fine Anthony Heald, playing E.K. Hornbeck (Randall in the Broadway original; Gene Kelly in the film), the acerbic Baltimore journalist modeled on H.L. Mencken. For much of the evening, Heald struggles with the echo, but he comes into his own in the production's most crackling exchange, between Drummond and Hornbeck after Brady's demise. It is, unfortunately, also the last scene.

But I can't remember another time when I wished a play had been staged at Scott's more familiar stomping ground, Circle in the Square. "Inherit the Wind" was first staged at Margo Jones' tiny theater-in-the-round in Dallas. What's missing here -- and what Kramer so effectively captured in the tightly shot film -- was the intense claustrophobia and choking heat of the setting, the barely contained violence this conflict engendered.

The play has been changed from three acts to two, and clocks in at just over a brisk two hours. It feels compressed, though whether this is the result of text trims is unclear. Whatever the case, a play that should literally knock the wind out of us has been reduced to a harmless squall that even Scott's daunting ministrations cannot salvage.

Set, James Noone; lighting, Ken Billington; costumes, Jess Goldstein; sound, Aural Fixation; casting, Deborah Brown; technical supervisor, Arthur Siccardi. production supervisor, Maureen F. Gibson; production stage manager, Wm. Hare; general manager, Niko Associates; press, Springer Associates; managing director, Fred Walker Artistic director, Tony Randall; executive producer, Manny Kladitis. Opened April 4, 1996. Reviewed March 27. Running time: 2 hours, 10 min.