April 13, 2007
Plummer and Dennehy open in 'Inherit the Wind'
 Regardless which critics are right -- either Christopher Plummer is giving one of the greatest performances ever or he and Brian Dennehy simply lack fire -- the new revival of "Inherit the Wind" remains a crackling powder keg of politics and religion a half century after it was conceived.
Judging by today's reviews, what you bring with you may determine whether you like this play, because the reviews are all over the map. London's Guardian declares its mere staging is a sure sign "US democracy is in trouble," while the Wall Street Journal condemns the snotty New York intelligentsia attitude toward those stupid enough to live somewhere Creationism reigns over Darwinism.
When the praise flows, it's heavy crazy for Plummer. Such is the case in New York magazine: "I’ve seen plenty of first-class acting, and flashes of greatness now and then, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this." Dennehy, on the other hand, takes some barbs for a more subdued performance.
The drama is based on the real-life 1925 Scopes "monkey trial," is which a high-school science teacher in Dayton, Tennessee was on trial for teaching Darwin in defiance of the state's new Anti-Evolution Law. It created a famous courtroom standoff between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. The play was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee in 1955, while the country was faced with the anti-Communist McCarthy hearings.
Many of the critics in their reviews today quote a line from the end of the play: "You don't suppose this kind of thing is ever finished, do you? Tomorrow, sure as hell, somebody else'll have to stand up."
The play's website contains both a downloadable study guide and a page of links to "enhance your knowledge about Evolutionism and Creationsism!" There is also a timeline of real events that inspired the play, including ones left out of the drama, such as this tidbit: May 4: Newspapers contain a note by the American Civil Liberties Union that state they will offer to pay court costs for any teacher willing to stand against the anti-evolution law.
May 5: Science teacher John Scopes agrees to become that teacher to test the anti-evolution law in court. The seaparation of fact and the play's fiction is seized upon by the Wall Street Journal theater reviewer Terry Teachout, who is also a biographer of H.L. Mencken, (who in turn is also the inspiartion for a character in "Inherit the Wind.") Teachout adds: "The clash of these two celebrities put Dayton on the front pages of every newspaper in the country, and many of the stories were written by H.L. Mencken, a longtime Bryan-hater who covered the trial for the Baltimore Sun while secretly acting as an unpaid consultant to the ACLU."
"Inherit the Wind" plays through July 8 at the Lyceum Theatre, located at 149 W. 45th St., map. Tickets are priced $26.25-$96.25. There are also 44 seats at each performance, priced at $36.25, that are actually on the stage in the jury and audience boxes for the trial. Premium seats are priced from $176.25 to $251.25.
The reviews:
New York Times - "Still, for this play to be the crackling courtroom drama it was intended to be, we need to feel the force of Drummond’s opposition. And not one soul on the side of creationism in this revival, directed by Doug Hughes, has a flicker of Mr. Plummer’s fire. Sadly, that includes the estimable Mr. Dennehy, the two-time Tony winner who plays Drummond’s formidable adversary, Matthew Harrison Brady, a character inspired by the grandiloquent politician William Jennings Bryan."
Variety - "But even without its ample contemporary parallels, Doug Hughes' dynamic production would be crackling entertainment, enlivened by the vigorous verbal sparring of two great lions of the stage, Brian Dennehy and Christopher Plummer."
Associated Press - "It takes two larger-than-life actors to make "Inherit the Wind" really crackle, and its latest Broadway revival has come up with quite a pair — Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy."
Daily News - "Credit belongs to Christopher Plummer, whose thrilling portrayal of defense counsel Henry Drummond is enough to make the revival a must-see."
Post - "And there is a very special fun in watching these two as trial lawyers, punching and counter-punching like elderly champions putting on a carefully calculated show, directed, almost refereed I imagine, by Doug Hughes."
NY1 - "In the role, Brian Dennehy is curiously subdued. Brady is described as a warrior, a man whose speeches can make tent poles shake. But in Dennehy's performance, the bible-stomping swagger seems more an act than a fervent belief. And for that reason, the climactic showdown in the courtroom isn't all that evenly matched. Dramatically, it's a bit of a letdown."
Sun - "Before you read any further, let alone head over to the Lyceum Theatre, you should know that director Doug Hughes has got it all backward. Mr. Plummer is playing not the fiery Matthew Harrison Brady but the folksy Henry Drummond, while Mr. Dennehy is forced to rein in his Irish charm and get all starchy as Brady. Or at least half backward: While Mr. Hughes's nononsense production of this chestnut relinquishes some of its punch, in part because of Mr. Dennehy's inability to play to his strengths, Mr. Plummer wears his roomier, gaudier role with the casual precision of a bespoke suit."
New York magazine - "Christopher Plummer is giving the kind of performance you’ll one day brag about having seen. As Henry Drummond, the Clarence Darrow–esque lawyer in Inherit the Wind, he makes every snap of his suspenders ring true. He walks a little stiffly, with a stoop, and tosses away some lines. But note the wicked twinkle in his eye: He’s just playing rope-a-dope. At the climax of this dramatized version of the Scopes Monkey Trial, when Drummond calls the Bible-thumping attorney Matthew Harrison Brady to the stand, Plummer gives his lines an acid bite, and moves with the kind of can’t-look-away charisma that mortals don’t possess."
USA Today - "In making Brady and Drummond compellingly human — and establishing a rapport between them, particularly in lighter moments — the leading men also serve the playwrights' ultimate message: that neither figure, nor the townspeople, should be dismissed or mocked. When Drummond defends his rival to a snooty journalist, he offers a reminder that faith and rational thought needn't be mutually exclusive."
Wall Street Journal - "I can't help but wonder what contemporary audiences will make of this old-fashioned slice of cultural agitprop. Many New Yorkers are notoriously inclined to assume that anyone living elsewhere is a bit on the primitive side, so some of them will doubtless imagine "Inherit the Wind" to be a courageous portrayal of life south of Manhattan, where all the men chew tobacco and all the women sleep with their cousins. That appears to be what Mr. Hughes thinks. He needs to get out more."
The Guardian - "There is a story told about many well-known foreign correspondents - Kate Adie and John Simpson especially - in which, as the reporter hands over their passport at the airport or hotel, a local does a double-take and says: "Oh God, things must be bad here." Inherit the Wind, being revived in New York this week, is the theatrical equivalent of such a pessimistic harbinger: if it turns up on Broadway, you can be sure US democracy is in trouble. Initially aimed at Senator Joseph McCarthy, architect of the 1950s anti-communist witch-hunts, the play is now directed at George W Bush."
Toronto Star - "Dennehy has chosen to take a more subdued, intensely realistic approach, and although one applauds his restraint, it would have been even more exciting to see what could have happened had he unleashed the power we know he's capable of opposite the fireworks Plummer was detonating."
Bloomberg - "Art this may not be, but savvy entertainment it surely is. I only wish there weren't the sentimental ending, canvassing sympathy for the Bible-thumper, devastatingly shown up to us if not to the court and citizenry. But a boulevard drama must please everyone, even the fundamentalists."
Newsday - "If you're going to grandstand in the theater, why not make a really grand stand? So it is with "Inherit the Wind," the creaky but still timely "monkey trial" melodrama that opened last night at the Lyceum Theater with spare-no-expense spectacle, a crackerjack gospel quartet and half the best supporting actors in New York."
amNewYork - "The performances in the ensemble cast range from compelling (Christopher Plummer as defense attorney Henry Drummond) to merely service-able (Brian Dennehy as prosecutor Matthew Harrison Brady) to miscast (Denis O¹Hare as journalist E.K. Hornbeck) to plain bad (Maggie Lacey as minister's daughter Rachel)."
Newark Star-Ledger - "Perhaps the show's flaw lies in its stars. Initially low-key as his character slouches around Hillsboro and its courthouse, the engaging Plummer depicts Drummond with a folksy sort of cracker-barrel informality. Dennehy portrays Brady more like a seasoned political veteran than a silver-tongued orator. So despite their obvious differences in opinion, the men appear cut from the same cloth."
Earlier: The view from the on-stage seats at "Inherit the Wind"
Dennehy: on the page vs. on the stage
Seats on the stage with Dennehy, Plummer for $36.25
Dennehy, Plummer on Broadway for 'Inherit the Wind'
April 13, 2007 08:11 AM in Broadway
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