‘Inherit the Wind’ at Playhouse appears arthritic

By MILAN PAURICH

entertainment @vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Although Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee’s “Inherit the Wind” was intended as a parable for the anti-communist hysteria sweeping the nation during Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s House Committee on Un-American Activities investigations, its ringing endorsement of intellectual freedom still resonates loudly today.

Inspired by the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial in which Tennessee high school biology teacher John T. Scopes was put on trial for teaching Darwin’s theories, “Wind” made little attempt to disguise its real-life antecedents. Agnostic free-thinker Henry Drummond was based on legal giant Clarence Darrow, and Matthew Harrison Brady was the spitting image of failed presidential candidate and notorious Bible-thumper William Jennings Bryan.

Considering how up-to-date the play’s themes and issues must seem to 21st-century audiences — and how classically wrought the script is — it’s odd that the unstintingly handsome version that opened at the Youngstown Playhouse Friday night feels so arthritic around the edges. Old-fashioned doesn’t have to mean creaky or stodgy, yet that’s how much of the dramaturgy played out on the Playhouse stage. Even though director Sam Perry uses the streamlined version of the text (two acts versus three), his “Wind” wheezes more than it roars.

The production values, fortunately, are up to the Playhouse’s usual standards of excellence. Jim Lybarger and Perry’s set design, Cherie Stebner’s costumes and Lybarger and John Pecano’s lighting and sound design are all dependably strong. I just wish that the pacing — especially in the somewhat sluggish second act — had been as assured, and that the casting had been more consistent from top to bottom.

As Drummond, Playhouse veteran Joseph Scarvell gives an interesting interpretation of his iconic role. Scarvell’s irascible, cagey Drummond doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and he brings a much-needed jolt of levity to the part. I was less sold on Larry Latsko’s Brady, which lacks the requisite fireworks to separate a truly memorable Brady from a merely serviceable one.

Matthew J. DiBattiste and Playhouse newcomer Caitlin Driscoll are both a trifle stilted as the play’s resident ingenues (Scopes stand-in Bertram Cates and his schoolmarmish girlfriend, Rachel Brown). Bill Rees (E.K. Hornbeck, the cynical newspaperman modeled after H.L. Mencken), Carl Brockway (Brady’s feisty co-counsel) and Chris Ferencik (the presiding judge) are all very good, with Rees a particular stand-out. Community theater lioness Denise Sculli is always a welcome presence, but she doesn’t have nearly enough to do in the rather thankless role of Mrs. Brady. And though the ubiquitous Terry Shears struggles with his cornpone accent as the loathsome Reverend Brown, he comes into his own during the big prayer-meeting scene.

“Inherit the Wind” runs through March 21 at the Youngstown Playhouse. For tickets, call (330) 788-8739.