Following their 2005 production of Richard II, director Trevor Nunn and actor/Old Vic Artistic Director Kevin Spacey team up once again for Inherit The Wind, a 1955 American drama which in which two legal Titans confront each other when a community puts freedom of thought on trial.

Written as a repsonse to the threat of McCarthyism in the 1950s, Inherit The Wind is based on the famous 1925 Scopes ‘Monkey’ trial in which science teacher John Scopes is accused of violating a Tennessee state statute by teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to his students. This production marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species. 

Nunn, the former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, is one of Britain’s most acclaimed directors who has worked across drama and musicals. His recent work includes the critically acclaimed production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music in the West End.

Spacey, who plays Henry Drummond in Inherit The Wind, is best known as a Hollywood actor but since becoming Artistic Director of the Old Vic has starred in several productions on its stage including A Moon For The Misbegotten, National Anthems, Richard II and Speed-The-Plow. 

For more about Inherit The Wind at the Old Vic, read the First Night Feature.