In this scene, Lawrence and Lee supply the facts needed to understand the play. They use Hillsboro, a town that is “ … about to be vigorously awakened,” as a symbolic representation of people getting along in life without getting involved. Laws that encourage censorship are passed (specifically the Butler Law), and freedoms slip away. The people of Hillsboro live their lives in a vacuum, not thinking about the consequences of such a law until Cates’ arrest. Cates’ trial awakens the people of Hillsboro to the notion that there is no right or wrong way to think, that the important thing is having the freedom to think and being able to exercise that freedom.
In the first scene, Lawrence and Lee establish the central conflict of the play—the controversy between evolutionism and creationism—and introduce the characters involved in the conflict. Thus, the play begins with the interaction between Howard and Melinda, young people who live in Hillsboro. Melinda tells Howard he talks “sinful,” and Howard calls Melinda’s father a monkey. Their interaction foreshadows disharmony among community members regarding, specifically, the issues of evolutionism and creationism, but more globally, the issues of freedom of thought and censorship.
The stage directions emphasize the importance of the crowd as “active spectators.” The crowd, made up of townspeople, provides dramatic tension throughout the play. In this scene, the townspeople are in high spirits because Matthew Harrison Brady is coming to Hillsboro to prosecute Cates, a minor character in the play who represents John Scopes. The townspeople have created a circus-like atmosphere. The town is decorated, food and other items are being sold, people sing and carry anti-evolution banners, and a band is ready to play.
The southern dialect spoken by the townspeople is realistic. They anticipate that, when Brady arrives, the “town’s gonna fill up like a rain barrel in a flood,” and they wonder, “where we gonna sleep all them people?” The Ladies Aid has even prepared a picnic that’s, “Fitt’n fer a king.” Clearly showing their support for Brady and his position against evolution, the townspeople sing, “Gimme that old-time religion,” as Brady steps off the train. Lawrence and Lee’s use of dialect and their portrayal of most of the citizens of Hillsboro reveal the townspeople as ignorant and unsophisticated—a typical stereotype of the rural South.
When Brady arrives in Hillsboro with his doting wife, Sarah, he assumes the role of leader of the common people. He is opposed to evolution and, during his arrival speech and later at the picnic, assures the townspeople that he is in Hillsboro to “defend … the Living Truth of the Scriptures,” and “to test the steel of (his) Truth against the blasphemies of Science.” According to Hornbeck, Brady is actually in Hillsboro “to find himself a stump to shout from. That’s all.” Brady’s ambition is to boost his popularity in the eyes of his followers, and he is on a crusade against evolution, similar to McCarthy’s crusade against Communism in the 1950s.
To emphasize Brady’s determination, Lawrence and Lee use allusions (references to historical or famous people, objects, or events) to suggest more than what he is saying. Brady, for example, compares his battle to the battles of Goliath and St. George, which represent the defeat of an imposing, and presumably unconquerable, monster by an average man.
In their characterizations of Brady and Reverend Brown, Lawrence and Lee reveal their thoughts about people who promote censorship. Brady is a narrow-minded bigot who is opposed to evolutionary theory but knows nothing about it. Reverend Jeremiah Brown, the spiritual leader of Hillsboro and, like Brady, a strict fundamentalist, uses his position as a town leader to subjugate, or rule, the townspeople.
Lawrence and Lee portray Brown as a stereotypical fire-and-brimstone preacher. He is cruel and controlling. At the welcome picnic, Brown is adamant that his daughter, Rachel, speak to Brady about Cates, and after she does, he tells Brady that, “Rachel has always been taught to do the righteous thing.” When Brown hears that Drummond is going to be Cates’ defense attorney, he comments that Cates is “a vicious Godless man” who could be the “ … Devil himself.” His immediate reaction is to keep Drummond out of Hillsboro. In this dialogue, Lawrence and Lee hint at the fear that exists when people are not willing to acknowledge different beliefs.
E. K. Hornbeck, a cynical newspaper columnist for the Baltimore Herald who was sent to Hillsboro to cover Cates’ trial, is also a character who has trouble accepting differing beliefs. Hornbeck, however, is not fundamentalist; he is pro-evolution and a champion of Cates.
