"Inherit The Wind" is a play written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee in 1955. It's based on the famous Scopes Trial, aka the “Monkey Trial”," which occurred in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. The main setting of the play is the courthouse which also holds the accused, Bert Cates. Mr. Cates is a young high school teacher who stands accused of breaking the law by teaching his class about the theory of evolution, based on Charles Darwin’s writings and research. The state in which this trial takes place (we can only assume it is Tennessee or Kentucky) is extremely religious and does not accept any other explanation of the world’s creation other than what is written in the scriptural book of Genesis. It is actually against the law to preach, talk, or even think about any other way the world and humanity came to be.
This unprecedented trial attracts the most famous lawyers of the time and is heavily covered by the media (radio and newspaper). People from various parts of the country flock to this small town in order to follow the proceedings. It is THE story of the millennium! The State has brought in Matthew Brady, a top lawyer in the country, fundamentalist politician and devout Christian who revels in all the attention he gets. He has run for presidency three times in the past and is hoping to be elected next time around. He is thinking that winning this trial and crushing his opponent will help him achieve his goal. He arrives with his entourage, his wife and Mr. Davenport, the local district attorney prosecuting Bertram Cates. The whole town adores him and lays out a feast for his arrival, similar to the reception of a dignitary.
Defending Mr. Cates is Henry Drummond, another nationally known attorney who was once Brady's closest friend. Both Mr. Drummond and Mr. Brady are of similar age, perhaps late sixties, early seventies. Mr. Drummond is known to be an agnostic, defending “bad” people and is very unwelc...