Oct. 1, 2002 The University of Wyoming Department of Theatre and Dance will present
the "Scopes Monkey Trial" at 7:30 nightly Oct. 8 12 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13,
on the Fine Arts Center main stage.
Tickets cost $13, or $11 for senior citizens and $6 for UW students. A panel discussion
about issues raised in the play is scheduled after the Thursday, Oct. 10, performance.
Adapted and directed by UW Associate Professor William Missouri Downs, the performance
is based on the original transcripts of the Scopes Monkey Trial.
According to Downs, "In 1927, John T. Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in
a public school. What followed was one of the most famous trials in United States
history, as the eloquent orator and statesman William Jennings Bryan and the brilliant
criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow were locked in an intellectual and emotional
battle in a Dayton, Tenn., courtroom."
The play and the movie "Inherit The Wind" were loosely based on this case, but the
UW performance is more historically accurate in its examination of the evolution/creation
debate, says Downs, resident playwright in UW's Department of Theatre and Dance.
Other performances this season are "Independence," Nov. 6 16; "The Nutcracker," Dec.
5 8; "The Last Night of Ballyhoo," Feb. 10 15; and "A Second Season Of Dance," March
4 7.
Single tickets and season tickets ($72, or $60 for senior citizens) can be purchased
at the Fine Arts Center box office or by calling (307) 766 6666. For more information
visit www.uwyo.edu/finearts/
Posted on Tuesday, October 01, 2002
