Inherit the Wind at Arena Stage Defies Gravitas
Inherit the Wind
Arena Stage
Jordan Wright
March 20, 2026
The company of Inherit the Wind at Arena Stage. (Photo/Daniel Rader)
In a time when political tensions couldn’t be more fraught and the country seems to be devolving into fearmongering and racist stereotypes, a new staging of Inherit the Wind opens at Arena Stage. Just when we need to remind our citizenry that the bravest of activist attorneys bucked the Old Guard while the bell was tolling, along comes a corny version of one of America’s most important legal cases – one which defined the country’s identity, forced a sea change in the laws of the land and elevated an unknown White attorney to historic legal prominence.
Unfortunately, this version seems to downplay its significance or, shall I say, highlights comedy over a transformative national event. I felt as though I was at a hoedown instead of a courtroom. Haystacks, swaths of white fabric indicating a tent revival, and light-colored wooden pallets form the spare set, serving as the only visual aids. Costumes are more in line with Minnie Pearl’s straw hat, while musical interludes serve only to denigrate the weight of the subject matter.
Noah Plomgren (Cates) and Billy Eugene Jones (Drummond). (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Where am I? Why, Ma! Pa! it’s Hokey Land in Hee-haw County where ordinary country folk are depicted in an insulting and insensitive manner. We count on Arena to deal fairly, or humorously, in the most salient political issues and to present a thinking person’s wakeup call when necessary. And it is necessary now. The importance of the Scopes trial of Darwinism (i.e. accepted science) versus a Tennessee backwoods, church-driven, moralistic position is not a topic to make light of – – most especially today when the country’s intellectuals, artists and scientists are under siege and pitted against bible-toting Christian fundamentalists eager to return to the Dark Ages.
In its favor is a willingly flexible cast who take on numerous roles and multiple quick costume changes in earnest. Standout performances by Broadway royalty Billy Eugene Jones as Drummond in the Clarence Darrow role, Noah Plomgren as Cates the reluctant defendant, Dakin Matthews as Brady the Prosecutor, and Alyssa Keegan as the Baltimore journalist covering the trial, elevate what could have been, and should have been, one of the most important and timely plays of the season.
Dakin Matthews (Brady), Rebecca Madeira (Rachel), and the company of Inherit the Wind. (Photo/Daniel Rader)
If only the fabulous and brilliantly choreographed Chez Joey had been done in the round in the more expansive Fichandler Stage, and this production been mounted in the smaller, more intimate Kreeger stage, switching the theater spaces, I think it might have come off better. Then again, maybe not, when the gravitas of this play is drowned out by pure unadulterated cornball.
With Rebeca Madeira as Rachel; and Jordan Friend, Natalya Lynette Rathnam, Todd Scofield, Tristan Turner and Holly Twyford fulfilling the ensemble’s multiple roles.
Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and directed by Ryan Guzzo Purcell. Set Design by Tanya Orellana; Costume Design by An-Lin Dauber; Lighting Design by Xavier Pierce; Composer & Sound Designer Paul James Prendergast.
Through April 5th at Arena Stage, 1101 6th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.488.3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.