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On Monday, October 23, we test our new theme, Survival of the Fittest, in a play "as fresh as today's weather forecast" (London Evening Standard). "Inherit the Wind" (1955), by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee, dramatizes the 1925 Tennessee prosecution of John Scopes for teaching evolution. "Thrilling" (New York Daily News), "powerful" (Washington Post), & "steadily absorbing" (New York Post), "Inherit the Wind" combines "drive [and] suspense" with "irony and humor" (New York Daily Mirror), "brilliant eloquence" (New York Journal-American), & "chalk-stroke vitality" (New York Herald-Tribune). The 1960 film starred Fredric March & Spencer Tracy.
Our meeting will feature two guest speakers. Alan Woods directs The Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at Ohio State University. In 1995 he edited "Selected Plays of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee." James B. Gilbert teaches history at the University of Maryland. His book "Redeeming Culture: American Religion in an Age of Science" (1997) traces American attitudes towards religion & science from the Scopes trial to the 1960s.
We will meet at Luna Books, 1633 P St., NW (3d floor), 3 blocks E of Dupont Circle. Dinner's at 6:30 p.m.; our discussion 7:30-9:30. To attend this meeting you MUST have a reservation. But we have no spaces left. To check if you have a reservation, or to get on our waiting list, call 202-638-0444 or e-mail [email protected]. We will hold reservations until 7:20 p.m. & then seat people from the waiting list. Catch "Wind" at Backstage Books, 545 8th St., SE, & for a discount at Super Crown, 11 Dupont Circle (202-319-1374); Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW; & Olsson's Books & Records, 1307 19th St., NW, & 7647 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda.
On Sunday, October 29, at 2:30 p.m., Footlights will attend "Inherit the Wind," co-starring James Whitmore & Robert Prosky, at Ford's Theatre, 511 10th St., NW (Metro Center & Gallery Place metro stations). Tickets are $19 but we're sold out. Robin Larkin will distribute tickets in the lobby just before the performance. Afterwards, a group of us will go to dinner at Jaleo, 480 7th St., NW. You can get on our waiting list by calling 240-669-6300 or e-mailing [email protected] before October 13. Ford's may also have individual tickets available for that performance, starting at $15 for obstructed-view seats (call 202-347-4833), & TICKETPlace may have discount tickets (call 202-TIC-KETS).
On Thursday, November 9, our evolutionary exploration encounters social Darwinism in a "prophetic social satire" with "lessons for the ages" (Chicago Tribune). In "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1945), by French playwright Jean Giraudoux, Countess Aurelia enlists the jugglers, ragpickers, & street peddlers of Paris to save their beloved city from a conniving clique of ruthless Parisian plutocrats. "Sophisticated, adventurous and imaginative" (Saturday Review), "Madwoman" is "fresh and witty" (Time), "exciting" (Newsweek) & "inspired" (The New Yorker), a true "work of art" (New York Times). Our meeting will feature director Jim Petosa. We'll meet the "Madwoman" (Halo Wines), at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd. (MD- 108), 2 p.m. Saturday November 11. Tickets are $19. The deadline for purchase or refunds is October 23 & we expect another sell-out. Mail your check, payable to Footlights, to Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Ct., Rockville, MD 20852.
Monday, October 23, 6:30 p.m.: "Inherit the Wind," Luna Books
Sunday, October 29, 2:30 p.m.: "Inherit the Wind," Ford's Theatre
Thursday, November 9, 6:30 p.m.: "The Madwoman of Chaillot," Delray Viet
Saturday, November 11, 2 p.m.: "The Madwoman of Chaillot," Olney Theatre
Wednesday, December 20, 6:30 p.m.: "K2," Luna Books
Tuesday, January 2, 7:30 p.m.: "K2," Arena Stage
Tuesday, January 16, 6:30 p.m.: TBA
Wednesday, February 21, 6:30 p.m.: TBA