(Posted October 22, 2005)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Drama is not history. It can be inspired by it, and it can illuminate it, though. Such is the case with L.A. Theatre Works' THE GREAT TENNESSEE MONKEY TRIAL.

The well-known 1925 trial of John Scopes in Dayton, Tenn. comes alive through the words of those involved, Peter Goodchild's strong scripting, Gordon Hunt's transparent direction and a fine ensemble of actors led by Ed Asner (THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, LOU GRANT). This national touring production stopped in Nashville as part of Vanderbilt University's Great Performances at Vanderbilt series.

The 1955 play INHERIT THE WIND was also inspired by the trial, but its exploration of creationalism versus evolution jettisoned much of the historical record to offer a dramatic treatise on the dangers of dogmatism. THE GREAT TENNESSEE MONKEY TRIAL manages to do something that Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's earlier work didn't - it embraces the historical record of the Scopes trial while offering the emotional impact that good drama evokes.

Scopes was on trial for allegedly teaching Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution to students at Rhea County High School after the Butler Act made such instruction illegal in Tennessee. Leading his defense was legendary attorney Clarence Darrow. The prosecution team included former presidential candidate and U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, who feared that evolutionary theory was little more than an assault on Christian faith.

But the struggle between these two titans is not all we get in Goodchild's dramatization. There is the little-known prelude to the trial, when Dayton's leaders decided to stage a test case in order to revitalize their economically depressed city's fortunes; the caustic reporting of the Baltimore Sun's H.L. Mencken; a brilliant courtroom speech by defense co-counsel Dudley Field Malone that even impressed Bryan; and the forthright recollections of Scopes himself.

The show is staged as a radio play complete with multiple microphones and sound cues, so the only elemental nod to a full theatrical production are the suits worn by the ensemble. That ensemble's sterling acting skills make other stage trappings unnecessary, though.

Asner's Bryan is an aging lion whose roar still retains power. As Darrow, John de Lancie (DAYS OF OUR LIVES, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION) is no less formidable in his challenges to Bryan and those who shared Bryan's views.

Frances Guinan, a veteran of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, shines as the elegant and eloquent Malone. Alley Mills (WONDER YEARS) handles the show's informative narration with an evenhanded grace that makes it a seamless part of this show instead of the intrusion it could be in the hands of a lesser performer.

The tour's Nashville stop also features Vanderbilt theater major Jason Scott Dechert as a Rhea County High School student testifying at Scopes' trial. Dechert acquits himself well amid these longtime professionals with a performance free of the tentativeness one often sees in young actors.

Hunt's direction shapes the presentation without stifling the creativity of his superb cast. It's a good director who knows that a talented cast should be honored with such artistic freedom.

Yes, drama is not the record of human endeavors that we call history. But history can be presented through the emotional prism of drama when that record is written, directed and performed by talented artists. THE GREAT TENNESSEE MONKEY TRIAL is proof that drama and history can coincide on stage.