LBCC’s “Inherit the Wind” sells out opening night

CORRECTION: A previous version of a caption failed to identify Allen Sewell as the actor yelling.

LBCC’s production of “Inherit the Wind” sold out its Thursday opening night, delivering an entertaining courtroom drama, with a final performance on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Bob and Barbara Ellis Auditorium. 

The play is based on the real life event of the Scopes Monkey Trial, a 1925 court case that had Christian belief and Darwinism at its center.

The play begins with a teacher imprisoned for exposing young students to the theory of evolution at a Christian school, outraging the town’s religious citizens. 

The lawyers, the defense that supported Darwinism, and the prosecution, a believer of the Bible, had the most dialogue in the play.

This dialogue consisted of witty back and forth banter, with the background lights clueing in the audience on who was winning the legal battle throughout the play.

An audience member named Juan Martinez spoke about his favorite scene in the play. 

“I just like everyone screaming because I didn’t really expect that much screaming… It was pretty funny and entertaining,” Martinez said.

_{The courtroom watches as Allen Sewell, acting as Hendry Drummond, yells and points during the dress rehearsal for LBCC’s production of “Inherit the Wind” at the LAC auditorium on Tuesday. (Isaiah Ryan)}

The Darwinism teacher, whose name was Bertram Cates in the play, was played by the actor Nicholas Rout-Vasquez. 

Rout-Vazquez shared how he dealt with nervousness before the play. 

_{From left to right, Allen Sewell, Nicholas Rout-Vasquez and Kyle Ruebel act as Henry Drummond, Bertram Cates and E.K. Hornbeck during the dress rehearsal for LBCC’s production of “Inherit the Wind” at the LAC auditorium on Tuesday. (Isaiah Ryan)}

“I think that you just have to use that energy, it can go both ways, it can control you or you can control it, you just have to get on the horse and ride the way,” Rout-Vasquez said.

Nancy Tran, who played Mrs. Krebs, a background character who she described as “crazy and wild”, shared how the first performance of the play went.

_{Jaylen Ferrera, left, gives a sermon as Reverend Jeremiah Brown while Nancy Tran, acting as Mrs. Krebs, raises her hands in worship during the dress rehearsal for LBCC’s production of “Inherit The Wind” at the LAC auditorium on Tuesday. (Isaiah Ryan)}

“Opening night went really well collectively. We all supported each other backstage and told the story really well,” Tran said. . 

Actor Leya Froehlich, who played the wife of Prosecutor Matt Brady, Mrs. Brady, shared that during one moment an actor near her tripped, and they both wanted to laugh, but they kept their cool and played it off, allowing the show to go on. 

Martinez also directed a message to the cast of the play. 

“To all the people that did the play, y’all did a super good job, keep doing that, it was really entertaining,” said Martinez.