the great tennessee monkey trial
(2009)

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The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial - by Peter Goodchild, directed by Brendon Fox - L.A. Theatre Works (January-February 2009)

The Scopes Trial, over the right to teach evolution in public schools, reaffirmed the importance of intellectual freedom as codified in the Bill of Rights. The trial, in a small-town Tennessee courtroom in 1925, set the stage for ongoing national debates over the separation of Church and State in a democratic society, debates that continue to this day.

Big Joe Mendi



Clarence Darrow & William Jennings Bryan (1925).

Jerry Hardin (with daughter Melora Hardin)

John Heard
(played Darrow for the 1st half of the tour)

Michael Winters
(played Darrow for the 2nd half of the tour)
*not pictured: Diane Adair & David Alan Novak.

*production photos below courtesy of the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Notre Dame.

Ed Asner as William Jennings Bryan.

James Gleason as H.L. Mencken.

Matthew Patrick Davis as John Thomas Scopes, with Kelly Hunt.


Jerry Hardin as Judge John Raulston.

The Prosecution: Rob Nagle & Ed Asner.

John Heard as Clarence Darrow.

Rob Nagle as Attorney General Tom Stewart.


Ed Asner, Jerry Hardin, David Alan Novak, and John Heard.


Matt Gaydos as former Attorney General Ben McKenzie, testifying for the Prosecution.


David Alan Novak, John Heard, Geoffrey Wade, Arye Gross, and Matthew Patrick Davis.


The Defendant: Matthew Patrick Davis.

Matt Gaydos as Frank Robinson, with John Heard as Clarence Darrow.



James Gleason as H.L. Mencken, reporting on the trial.

Geoffrey Wade as Dudley Field Malone, international divorce lawyer.

Arye Gross as Arthur Garfield Hays, attorney for the ACLU.


Shannon Cochran as the Narrator.


Jerry Hardin, James Gleason, Rob Nagle, and John Heard.


Jerry Hardin, David Alan Novak, John Heard, Geoffrey Wade, Arye Gross, Matthew Patrick Davis and Shannon Cochran.


The indomitable Ed Asner.

Ed Asner and John Heard go head-to-head.

 


David Alan Novak, as Foreman of the Jury, finds Scopes guilty.

Rob Nagle and Ed Asner.

Ed Asner as Bryan and John Heard as Darrow.

The Veterans: Jerry Hardin, Ed Asner and John Heard.

Jerry Hardin as Judge Raulston and
Michael Winters as Clarence Darrow.
(photo courtesy of Rob Garland Photographers)

Rob Nagle, James Gleason, Ed Asner and Michael Winters speak on a panel at the WHQR studios, the local NPR radio station. (photo courtesy of WWAY, NewsChannel 3, the ABC television affiliate in Wilmington, North Carolina.)
Rob had the opportunity to teach master classes during this tour at the following schools: Weber State University, University of Utah, Butler University, University of Colorado, University of Kansas, Appalachian State University, University of North Carolina-Asheville, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, and George Mason University.