The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial, drawn from the actual transcripts of the 1925 Dayton, Tenn., trial of a public school teacher accused of teaching evolution, will be performed as part of the Great Performances at Vanderbilt series at 8 p.m. on Oct. 19 and 20. The national tour production stars Ed Asner, John de Lancie and Alley Mills.
A forum, “The Scopes Trial: A Continuing Controversy,” is set for 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19. It is free and open to the public. Both the forum and the play will be held at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University.
Vanderbilt Professor of Law Lisa Bressman will moderate the panel, which will include Volney Gay, professor of religious studies and chair of the department and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Culture at Vanderbilt; Charles Israel, associate professor of history at Auburn University and author of Before Scopes: Evangelicalism, Education, and Evolution in Tennessee, 1870-1925; Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee; and David Williams, Vanderbilt professor of law and the university’s general counsel.
WHAT: The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial and a pre-performance
discussion
WHERE: Curb Event Center at Belmont University, 2002 Belmont Blvd.
WHEN: Panel discussion begins at 6:45 p.m. on Oct. 19. Play
starts at 8 p.m. on Oct. 19 and 20
Media will be admitted to the play only with a ticket, available in advance from the Vanderbilt News Service. Photography, recording and videotaping is permitted during the forum, but not during the play.
Media Contact: Susanne Hicks, 615-322-NEWS
susanne.hicks@vanderbilt.edu