News

November 16, 2008

Inherit the Wind to be Performed by Santa Barbara Junior High Students

The Santa Barbara Junior High Theatre Arts Department presents Inherit the Wind, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. The play, directed by Heather Marshall, will be performed at the school’s Marjorie Luke Theatre, 721 East Cota Street. The show runs Friday and Saturday evenings, November 21 and 22, with the curtain going up at 7:30 p.m.

Technical direction and costume design are provided by Mark Johnson and Tara Logan, respectively. The school’s theatre program is earning a reputation for garnering high quality performances from our local 12-14 year olds.

Inherit the Wind made its debut on Broadway in 1955 and was later made into a TV movie. The story is a fictionalized version of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial, which resulted in a Tennessee science teacher’s (John T. Scopes) conviction for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to his high school class. At the time, Tennessee law prohibited the teaching of anything other than creationism in the classrooms. The Scopes trial claimed national attention. The important issues of control of information and beliefs, that are central to this engaging story, are as current today as they ever were.

“The students and I have talked a lot about how this play relates to politics in this country, about the trouble that ensues when people with different belief systems can't discuss and respect each others’ ideas,” said Marshall.

General admission tickets can be purchased at the door. Adults $10, children $5. For more information or to arrange for large groups, please call (805) 963-7751 ext. 129.