In their Playwrights' Note, Lawrence and Lee state that Inherit the Wind is not history and that the play has a life of its own. While recognizing the historical Scopes Trial and the extensive newspaper coverage it received at the time, the authors raise the idea that the issues of the conflict between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan "have acquired new meaning in the ... years since they clashed at the Rhea County Courthouse." The ambiguity of the stage directions for the play's time period ("Not too long ago.") allows for the ideas generated by the characters, rather than the facts generated by scores of reporters, to assume center stage.
The stage directions call for the courtroom to be in the foreground. This is appropriate as the site of the drama's.....
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