The most revelatory thing about artistic director Robert J. Farley’s Georgia Ensemble Theatre production of “Inherit the Wind” isn’t exactly the casting of venerable Atlanta actors John Ammerman and Eddie Levi Lee in the starring roles. It’s casting the two of them in the wrong roles -- or, more accurately, in the roles you’d expect to see the other one playing.
The 1955 Jerome Lawrence-Robert E. Lee chestnut is a thinly veiled account of the 1925 Scopes “monkey trial,” in which a small-town teacher was prosecuted for introducing his sixth-grade science class to Darwin’s “Origin of Species.” As courtroom dramas go, the play’s highly articulate (and still relevant) debates about creationism versus evolution provide juicy showcases for those actors portraying the opposing big-city attorneys.
The special prosecutor, Matthew Harrison Brady, a Bible-thumping “self-appointed prophet” and twice-failed presidential candidate, is based on William Jennings Bryan. For the defense, there’s the humble Henry Drummond, a “godless legal mastermind” based on Clarence Darrow.
Given Ammerman’s flair for stately self-righteousness (think Theatre in the Square’s “A Man for All Seasons”) and Lee’s penchant for unassuming folksiness (think Horizon’s “Charm School”), the co-stars would seem to be ideal choices for the parts of Brady and Drummond, respectively. Interestingly, if not altogether effectively, Farley casts them against type.
Beyond the initial novelty of that, their individual performances are competent enough, but there isn’t much spark or shading in the relationship between their characters, who are presumably old friends with a deep respect for each other. As a result, when Drummond cross-examines Brady on the witness stand during their pivotal confrontation, the scene lacks momentum. How quickly the tide of public opinion turns feels vague and arbitrary.
(It makes you wonder whether Farley did some not-so-judicious pruning of the script, which was originally written in three acts. This version is performed in two acts and barely runs two hours in length -- including the intermission and opening-night curtain speech.)
The supporting cast is largely negligible. Newcomer Alexandros Salazar is much too youthful to convince as a cynical, world-weary reporter who’s covering the trial. The fine Chad Martin (“The Boys Next Door”) is wasted as the conscientious defendant, who allows the lawyers and even his girlfriend (Eliana Marianes) to do most of the talking for him.
What he sees in her at all is a mystery. She advises him to admit he was “wrong” or “just joking around.” “Why can’t you be on the right side of things?” she wonders aloud. Her father (John Stephens) is the town’s bombastic minister, but their eventual estrangement and her gradual enlightenment are poorly developed.
Although the play espouses the right to think and the power to reason, the production doesn’t adequately substantiate its own argument.
Theater review
“Inherit the Wind”
Grade: C+
Through March 13. 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays. $23-$33. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. 770-641-1260, get.org.
Bottom line: Too lightweight to be very stirring or thought-provoking.
