Guess who is Clarence Darrow in the Arena Stage poster above? Yup, the black guy. The ACLU would hire a black trial lawyer to represent its interests in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925? The whole premise of the play and the actual trial is that the most celebrated lawyer in the nation came to small town to defend “The Origin of the Species” against religious zealotry. There were no prominent black trial lawyers in 1925 anywhere, but even if there were, an organization would have been insane to hire him to handle a trial in Tennessee. The casting choice makes the suspension of disbelief impossible for all but the most ignorant audience members.

Thus nothing about the actor’s portrayal suggests Clarence Darrow in any way. If someone knows anything about Darrow’s career, the choice is particularly baffling. The year after the Scopes trial, Darrow was hired by the NAACP to defend eleven blacks accused of murder is Detroit. The acquittal he got in the Sweet case was remarkable because of the bigotry and racism that gripped American society at the height of Jim Crow. Making Darrow/Drummond black is a stunt that adds nothing to the production except rendering it absurd. “Inherit the Wind” isn’t “Hamilton,” which, as a musical, has inherent artistic license.

Then the director has H.L. Mencken—excuse me, “E.K. Hornbeck”—played by a woman. There were female reporters in 1925, not many, some, but again, Mencken is an important and unique literary figure. He was also a misogynist. This is simply checkbox DEI casting. There was a chance to interest historically-dim audience members in a fascinating real-life character, and the casting obliterates him. The Dayton judge is also played by a woman. There were virtually no female judges anywhere in the country in 1925. The first female judge in Tennessee took the bench in 1932.

Oh, picky picky picky! Who cares about history? It’s only a play about historical characters in a famous historical trial, one of the most famous trials the U.S. ever witnessed! We’re in the midst of the 13 days of the Alamo siege; the fort fell on March 6. Arena’s Scopes trial is the equivalent of dramatizing the Alamo with a black Davy Crockett, a woman playing Jim Bowie, and Mexican William Barrett Travis.

But wait, there’s more!

As you can see in the graphic, Cate/Scopes is played by an actor with a shaved head, a sartorial style that would have anyone wearing it in 1925 judged as either an escapee from a lunatic asylum or a Bolshevik. Even that, however, isn’t the weirdest artistic choice in this production. For some reason, crowd scenes include two large, bearded men wearing women’s Sunday hats. What the Hell? Was this a nod of gratuitous support to the trans community in a play that couldn’t have less to do with sexual politics? What’s going on here?

What ever it is, the Arena’s production of “Inherit the Wind” is one more indication of how progressive bias and the infestation of every corner of our culture with woke politics sucks the joy out of life. This production should have been introduced by Leonard Plinth-Garnell (Dan Ackroyd) from SNL’s “Bad Theater.”

(And good night, Curmie, wherever you are.)