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American Monkeys: a theatrical festival in honor of a media circus
New Fortune Theatre event re-presents the Scopes Monkey Trial, 100 years later
Clarence Darrow (right, standing) cross-examines William Jennings Bryan (left, seated) at the Scopes Monkey Trial, 1925
The sanctuary of Westminster Presbyterian Church is about to swap hymns for heated cross‑examination. This Saturday, New Fortune Theatre Co. presents American Monkeys, a free, five‑hour mash‑up of courtroom drama and county fair that marks the 100‑year anniversary of the Scopes “Monkey” Trial.
Upcoming Event
American Monkeys: The Scopes Monkey Trial Centennial Celebration
- Saturday, July 26, 2025, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3598 Talbot Street, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages / Free
The famous trial took place in July 1925: Tennessee biology teacher John T. Scopes was prosecuted for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act, drawing famed litigator Clarence Darrow and populist orator William Jennings Bryan into a courtroom showdown that came to symbolize the national clash between modern science and Biblical literalism. It was the first trial to be broadcast on the radio, and the courtroom proceedings became wrapped in a media circus complete with a carnival atmosphere and a performing chimpanzee.
Director Richard Baird answers that history with an equally hybrid staging of American Monkeys: three one‑hour readings from A.J. Schaar’s new “reader’s edition” of the trial transcripts. The readings are slotted for 2 pm, 3:30 pm, and 5 pm, and will be held inside the church, itself re‑imagined as a Tennessee courtroom. Between acts, the action spills outside, where 1920s-style jazz combos — Charles Evans Jr. & Caitie Grady (3 pm), the Johnny High‑Hat Combo (4:30 pm), and Le Quartette de Trois (6 pm) — aim to keep the energy high and the lawn hopping like a Prohibition‑era dance hall.
Baird’s cast features local performers Andrew Barnicle as William Jennings Bryan and Matthew Henerson as Clarence Darrow, backed by Bo Foxworth, Melanie Lora, Matthew Floyd Miller, Shana Wride, and more. Schaar’s abridgment aims for primary‑source precision. The publicity brags, “This ain’t Inherit the Wind. This here’s the truth of history." That said, the performance also seeks to distill eight days of theological slug‑fest and legal hair‑splitting into the “good parts” version, while keeping verbatim language intact. (There will also be an afterward, courtesy of Charles Darwin.)
Director Richard Baird and writer A.J. Schaar
What helps makes this alternative theater instead of a history lesson is everything happening beyond the lectern. Guests can catapult a sock monkey into “hell,” spin the “Wheel of EVILution,” or meet a live snake (a nod to Eden’s star reptile) while kids craft animal bookmarks and bibliophiles comb a benefit book sale. Handmade “monkey merch,” chocolate‑dipped bananas, and watermelon wedges round out the array of authentic 1920s midway concessions. The company counts on 40 volunteers to keep the circus running, and yes, you’re free to roam in and out all afternoon (the court insists only on quiet entrances).
Admission is officially $0. New Fortune’s credo is “Theatre for All” — but a cheeky donation box invites patrons to either “pay the fine to violate the law”: $100, echoing John Scopes’s original penalty, or a more budget‑friendly $20 suggested gift. If you want to bone up beforehand, Schaar's text is also available for free here, though it should be noted that it can also be purchased in book form here.
Schaar came to the project partly through an interest in the subject, and partly through a desire to encourage people to read actual dialogue. Here, she had a case that was ripe for extremist rhetoric, but what she found was eloquence, diplomacy, and sincere emotion. Consider the following from defense attorney Dudley Field Malone:
I remember in my history, the story of the burning of the great library at Alexandria, and just before it was burned to the ground, the Egyptians went to the hostile general and said, “Your Honor, do not destroy this great library, because it contains all the truth that has been gathered,” and the Mohammedan general said, “but the Koran contains all the truth. If the library contains the truth that the Koran contains, we do not need the library, and if the library does not contain the truth that the Koran contains, then we must destroy the library anyway..."
And I would like to say something for the children of this country. We have no fears about the young people of America. They are a pretty smart generation. The least that this generation can do, Your Honor, is to give the next generation all the facts, all the available data, all the theories, all the information that learning, that study, that observation has produced— give it to the children in the hope of heaven that they will make a better world of this than we have been able to make it. We have just had a war with twenty million dead. Civilization is not so proud of the work of the adults. For God’s sake, let the children have their minds kept open— close no doors from them. Make the distinction between theology and science. Let them have both. Let them both be taught. Let them both live.
Mr. Bryan, just a week ago, spoke of this jury system as a seal of freedom for free men in a free state! [But] who has been excluding the jury for fear it would learn something? Have we? Who has been making the motions to take the jury out of the courtroom? Have we? We want everything we have to say on religion and on science told, and we are ready to submit our theories to the direct and cross-examination of the prosecution.
We have come here to tell the truth as we understand it. We do not fear all the truth they can present as facts. The truth always wins, and we are not afraid of it. The truth is no coward. The truth does not need the forces of government. The truth does not need Mr. Bryan. The truth is imperishable, eternal, and immortal and needs no human agency to support it. We have come here ready for a battle. We are ready. We are ready. We feel we stand with progress. We feel we stand with science. We feel we stand with intelligence. We feel we stand with fundamental freedom in America. We are not afraid. Where is the fear? We meet it. Where is the fear? We defy it. We ask Your Honor to admit the evidence as a matter of correct law, as a matter of sound procedure, and as a matter of justice to this defense of this case!
Scopes ended up being found guilty, though he ultimately avoided his fine. The jury is still out on this alternative theater hybrid that aims to bring the last century's legal oration into alignment with performance, music, fun for the whole family. It’s a dramatic trick to juggle dialogue between faith and science concerning the origin of the species with the eternal human desire to fling (sock) monkeys; let’s see how New Fortune manages.
Need to know: Show up early for the first reading, stay late for the Darrow‑vs.-Bryan heavyweight round at 5 pm, and bring sunscreen, curiosity, and a willingness to yell “objection!” (from the lawn, of course).
Here's something you might be interested in.
American Monkeys: a theatrical festival in honor of a media circus
New Fortune Theatre event re-presents the Scopes Monkey Trial, 100 years later
American Monkeys: a theatrical festival in honor of a media circus
New Fortune Theatre event re-presents the Scopes Monkey Trial, 100 years later
Clarence Darrow (right, standing) cross-examines William Jennings Bryan (left, seated) at the Scopes Monkey Trial, 1925
The sanctuary of Westminster Presbyterian Church is about to swap hymns for heated cross‑examination. This Saturday, New Fortune Theatre Co. presents American Monkeys, a free, five‑hour mash‑up of courtroom drama and county fair that marks the 100‑year anniversary of the Scopes “Monkey” Trial.
Upcoming Event
American Monkeys: The Scopes Monkey Trial Centennial Celebration
- Saturday, July 26, 2025, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3598 Talbot Street, San Diego
- Age Limit: All ages / Free
The famous trial took place in July 1925: Tennessee biology teacher John T. Scopes was prosecuted for teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act, drawing famed litigator Clarence Darrow and populist orator William Jennings Bryan into a courtroom showdown that came to symbolize the national clash between modern science and Biblical literalism. It was the first trial to be broadcast on the radio, and the courtroom proceedings became wrapped in a media circus complete with a carnival atmosphere and a performing chimpanzee.
Director Richard Baird answers that history with an equally hybrid staging of American Monkeys: three one‑hour readings from A.J. Schaar’s new “reader’s edition” of the trial transcripts. The readings are slotted for 2 pm, 3:30 pm, and 5 pm, and will be held inside the church, itself re‑imagined as a Tennessee courtroom. Between acts, the action spills outside, where 1920s-style jazz combos — Charles Evans Jr. & Caitie Grady (3 pm), the Johnny High‑Hat Combo (4:30 pm), and Le Quartette de Trois (6 pm) — aim to keep the energy high and the lawn hopping like a Prohibition‑era dance hall.
Baird’s cast features local performers Andrew Barnicle as William Jennings Bryan and Matthew Henerson as Clarence Darrow, backed by Bo Foxworth, Melanie Lora, Matthew Floyd Miller, Shana Wride, and more. Schaar’s abridgment aims for primary‑source precision. The publicity brags, “This ain’t Inherit the Wind. This here’s the truth of history." That said, the performance also seeks to distill eight days of theological slug‑fest and legal hair‑splitting into the “good parts” version, while keeping verbatim language intact. (There will also be an afterward, courtesy of Charles Darwin.)
Director Richard Baird and writer A.J. Schaar
What helps makes this alternative theater instead of a history lesson is everything happening beyond the lectern. Guests can catapult a sock monkey into “hell,” spin the “Wheel of EVILution,” or meet a live snake (a nod to Eden’s star reptile) while kids craft animal bookmarks and bibliophiles comb a benefit book sale. Handmade “monkey merch,” chocolate‑dipped bananas, and watermelon wedges round out the array of authentic 1920s midway concessions. The company counts on 40 volunteers to keep the circus running, and yes, you’re free to roam in and out all afternoon (the court insists only on quiet entrances).
Admission is officially $0. New Fortune’s credo is “Theatre for All” — but a cheeky donation box invites patrons to either “pay the fine to violate the law”: $100, echoing John Scopes’s original penalty, or a more budget‑friendly $20 suggested gift. If you want to bone up beforehand, Schaar's text is also available for free here, though it should be noted that it can also be purchased in book form here.
Schaar came to the project partly through an interest in the subject, and partly through a desire to encourage people to read actual dialogue. Here, she had a case that was ripe for extremist rhetoric, but what she found was eloquence, diplomacy, and sincere emotion. Consider the following from defense attorney Dudley Field Malone:
I remember in my history, the story of the burning of the great library at Alexandria, and just before it was burned to the ground, the Egyptians went to the hostile general and said, “Your Honor, do not destroy this great library, because it contains all the truth that has been gathered,” and the Mohammedan general said, “but the Koran contains all the truth. If the library contains the truth that the Koran contains, we do not need the library, and if the library does not contain the truth that the Koran contains, then we must destroy the library anyway..."
And I would like to say something for the children of this country. We have no fears about the young people of America. They are a pretty smart generation. The least that this generation can do, Your Honor, is to give the next generation all the facts, all the available data, all the theories, all the information that learning, that study, that observation has produced— give it to the children in the hope of heaven that they will make a better world of this than we have been able to make it. We have just had a war with twenty million dead. Civilization is not so proud of the work of the adults. For God’s sake, let the children have their minds kept open— close no doors from them. Make the distinction between theology and science. Let them have both. Let them both be taught. Let them both live.
Mr. Bryan, just a week ago, spoke of this jury system as a seal of freedom for free men in a free state! [But] who has been excluding the jury for fear it would learn something? Have we? Who has been making the motions to take the jury out of the courtroom? Have we? We want everything we have to say on religion and on science told, and we are ready to submit our theories to the direct and cross-examination of the prosecution.
We have come here to tell the truth as we understand it. We do not fear all the truth they can present as facts. The truth always wins, and we are not afraid of it. The truth is no coward. The truth does not need the forces of government. The truth does not need Mr. Bryan. The truth is imperishable, eternal, and immortal and needs no human agency to support it. We have come here ready for a battle. We are ready. We are ready. We feel we stand with progress. We feel we stand with science. We feel we stand with intelligence. We feel we stand with fundamental freedom in America. We are not afraid. Where is the fear? We meet it. Where is the fear? We defy it. We ask Your Honor to admit the evidence as a matter of correct law, as a matter of sound procedure, and as a matter of justice to this defense of this case!
Scopes ended up being found guilty, though he ultimately avoided his fine. The jury is still out on this alternative theater hybrid that aims to bring the last century's legal oration into alignment with performance, music, fun for the whole family. It’s a dramatic trick to juggle dialogue between faith and science concerning the origin of the species with the eternal human desire to fling (sock) monkeys; let’s see how New Fortune manages.
Need to know: Show up early for the first reading, stay late for the Darrow‑vs.-Bryan heavyweight round at 5 pm, and bring sunscreen, curiosity, and a willingness to yell “objection!” (from the lawn, of course).
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