Ideas for Inherit the Wind

David Stiefel Tech Theater. Design Project ABOUT: INHERIT THE WIND Hi, and welcome to this visual design overview for Inherit the Wind, a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee that forever altered Americans’ memories concerning what did and did not take place at the fateful Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. (For an overview of just how different the actual event and the play are, a good review can be found here: http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v19/i1/scopes.asp [“Inherit the Wind: An Historical Analysis” by David Menton, first published in Creation Ex Nihlo magazine in December of 1996.]) After having read the play, I must say that the playwrights paid very good attention to the emphasis on acting. After all, they needed strawmen for their messages to get through; and that meant having actors that could play stupid and over-the-top characters convincingly. Less emphasized, however, is the need for accuracy concerning what time the trial took place and what would have been worn. In fact, the play opens with “Time: Summer. Not too long ago. Place: A small town.” For a book written in 1955, “not too long ago” could mean “five years ago” just as easily as it could mean thirty. Thankfully, as images on the poster board illustrate, clothing styles did not change too dramatically between 1925 and 1950. This gives us some leeway in what to have characters wear. I decided right off the bat that a good idea for introducing accuracy to newcomers would be to find out what the actual members of the actual trial wore during their eight-day affair (which seems more like a three-day affair in the play.) It is true that when the characters complain of the heat (especially on Line 3 of page 49,) that it was actually quite hot in the courtroom during the actual trial. The photo I pulled off of Wikipedia of Bryan and Darrow socializing illustrates just how hot it was. (Brady having a fan is entirely optional though.) It was difficult to find a dress that was appropriate for Rachel to wear. There was no Rachel at the actual trial (nor any women for that matter!) Therefore, this character is very open to interpretation. I created a variation of her in The Sims 2: Open For Business and gave her a Maxis default pink dress. I’ll explain in a little bit the grayscale bias, but her pink dress is one of few “color splash” items that I have chosen to make exempt from it. The dress worn by Rachel in most of my courtroom clips is a fairly modern (as in, 60’s or later) design. This was the closest thing the game had to what I felt would be worn by such a character. I’ve included a pink 60’s dress from the Sims fan site All-About-Style.com as an alternative that would be more time-period-appropriate. Pink represents her genteel and kind nature, her flowing with life, her innocence, and her compassion come-what-may. She is one of few characters in the entire play whose image is not tarnished as being either overly cynical (like Drummond and Hornbeck,) or overly naïve and arrogant (like Brady, Rev. Brown, and most of the townsfolk.) It just seemed like the logical choice, therefore, to give her a costume that was teeming with color while everyone else’s costume conforms more to the black-and-white coldness of the stage’s overall design. I knew right away that I needed to have something to make Hillsboro look like a “small town.” That is why I chose to have a background for the only two parts of town we see in the front. Behind the marketplace and the courtroom (with the courtroom exterior being part of the marketplace,) I’ve decided that a small park should be visible. I’ve noted the site (Sarges.com) from which I took a sample. As for the walls being placed as they are (in the back side ground plan preferably, the Sims render is not very good,) the two paragraphs that open on page 3 (Act One Scene One) state rather plainly that only the marketplace and inside of the court are visible. Concerning lighting, I’ve decided to deviate a little from what the play suggests. When I think of Inherit the Wind, I think of a piece that has very likely been adapted as a film. I found out, not too much surprised, that this has been the case multiple times. The most enduring adaptation, however, was made in 1960. I therefore felt that the play deserved a feel like a 60’s film, rather than the full-drama and abstract colors in the original. I’ve even included a clip on the backside that illustrates a scene from the 60’s film. The crude and relentless (but mostly logical) Drummond clashes with the hubris-filled Brady in that scene in a framing similar to the photo of Darrow and Bryan on the front side, but it is quite obvious that both characters in the film (and play) are far more mean-spirited than their real-life counterparts. Page 44 suggests at the top paragraph that there should be “a strong sunset glow” on the marketplace, indicating afternoon. I have reached the conclusion that simply dimming the lights while lighting that side of the stage while the courtroom remains dark could have almost the same effect. Lighting would have to be pretty soft overall, in order to maintain the illusion I’m going for. Lights would not only most likely be softened Fresnels, but would also be given fronts to color-balance the tungsten for a very neutral light. This takes audience attention away from color (save for the color splash items that are allowed to have it.) Instead, mood and acting become pinnacle to replace the elements of light and color that have been removed. Without a solid and emotional performance, a play like this simply will not work anyway. Scopes himself is shown (and poorly imitated by a Sim) rather than the much younger and more attractive Cates. This minor casting issue would likely be easy to remedy at any college. This finally brings me to my final style point: color. The play (and film) both exist in a world that is very much black-and-white. Rachel, the only character I’ve allowed to remain in full color, is the only one who can see the shades of gray in any moral conflict. Everybody else sees evil (or ignorance as a form of evil) in one another, and everyone in the play is generally very cruel to everyone else. Rachel and Cates’ love for each other make them the only characters in the entire play, save for a thirteen-year-old boy; that are not ruthless and abusive. This, plus the fact that the play is remembered more for the films, is one of many reasons why I have decided that the play’s world should be almost entirely told in grayscale. Hornbeck’s apple is in color, though that is because it would be difficult to find a gray edible apple. On pages 40 and 41, he playfully teases Rachel’s naivety with his apple: “Trust me; there’s no Tree of Knowledge in this town; no chance this apple could hurt anyone!” I have decided that a man as jaded about the world as Hornbeck (Mencken) needed to be eating (and teasing) with a fruit similar in color. It only made sense to have his apple be green, instead of the more traditional red apple used in theaters. Skin, which would be difficult to color-control without huge globs of makeup, gets to remain in color on all characters. Yet, clothing can be more easily color-controlled. Everyone’s outfit is made up of harsh contrasts of light and dark neutral tones. Scenery is painted to black, white, or any shade of gray that fits its function. A few other items, such as the table full of food on page 36, would have food or food-like props that would invariably have to violate the no-color rule. Audiences will thus be able to view this experimental twist on the play in any of a number of ways. Those looking for subtext will find plenty of symbolism behind the lack of color and occasional splashes of it. Perhaps less-educated viewers will be able to view it and think: “That’s incredible! They’re using a technique kinda like Sin City…on a STAGE!” Still others will simply bask in the novelty of watching a stage pretend so endearingly to be a black-and-white film. Some may even appreciate the irony that the play came first, then the black-and-white film. Regardless the reasons, I feel strongly that this stylized format for this play would liven it in ways the original playwrights never thought possible.