Transcript Staff

Writer Gordon Greene, who retired from the University of Oklahoma in 2001, has authored a new play about the famous 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tenn. It's called "The Scopes Monkey Trial: What Really Happened." The first public performances will be 7:30 p.m. Feb. 29 and March 1 at First Unitarian Church at 600 NW 13th Street in Oklahoma City.

Often referred to as the "Monkey Trial" because it focused on a law that forbade the teaching of evolution in public schools, many legal historians consider Tennessee versus John T. Scopes the trial of the century. It was America's biggest media event up till that time. It also was the struggle of titans, pitting America's leading defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, against orator and three-time presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan on the side of the prosecution.

At OU, Greene was head writer in the Office of Electronic Media Services. He wrote and produced videos, radio and TV spots and hosted OU Today, a weekly radio show heard on some 30 stations around the state. An award-winning author with numerous stories, articles, essays and poems to his credit, Greene also has published five books. Now-after a career that began in theater as a professional actor but veered off into positions as a college professor, an advertising executive, a freelance writer, a newspaper editor and his 15-year stint at OU, he has returned to theater as a playwright.

"I've done a lot of writing in other areas," Greene said, "but as a theater practitioner and a history buff who grew up in Tennessee, the Scopes trial seemed to be the perfect vehicle for me. I was drawn to the story on first reading 'Inherit the Wind' many years ago. That's a fine play, but it's a highly fictionalized account of the trial. When I realized that most Americans only know of this fascinating event through fiction, I decided to write a new drama that's as historically accurate as I could possibly make it. I spent months researching and writing it. And now, with the help of the Dewey Street Thespians at the First Unitarian Church, it's being produced in Oklahoma City. This will be a world premiere."

The two-act play will be staged in the style of readers' theater. Among the 15 cast members, the author will read the role of Clarence Darrow and the Rev. Mark Christian will read William Jennings Bryan. Norman resident Bill Walker will read the part of the foreman of the jury.

Admission is $5; all proceeds go to charity. A question and answer period will follow the production.

Greene is a past-president and honorary life member of the Oklahoma Writers' Federation. He was twice president of Oklahoma City Writers, Inc. His first play a modern adaptation of Moliere's 17th century comedy "The Imaginary Invalid" was produced by the Oklahoma Theatre Center in 1978.