'Inherit The Wind' actor talks stage and screen classic's revival at Chicago's Goodman Theatre

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "Inherit The Wind" is a stage and screen classic, and it is getting new life at the Goodman Theatre in a dazzling revival.

Chicago's Harry Lennix told ABC7 about how this story of censoring ideas is still vital and even more relevant now.

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It was 1925, and a high school teacher was on trial for teaching evolution. Lennix portrays a defense attorney based on the legendary Clarence Darrow.

"I think the character I play in this play, Henry Drummond, doesn't have any answers, but he's open to the idea of considering options and alternative views, and that's what I think is the great genius of this script," Lennix said. "When I think about 'advocate,' somebody who speaks on behalf of an idea or a principle, that's really when I think lawyers are at their best. The abortion issue, reproductive rights, what states want this and that - law to reign in their land, what can we tolerate, what is the real purpose that framers had here, really that's why I think it's relevant today."

The story may be best known for the film version with Spencer Tracy, and he casts a long shadow.

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"I saw that movie five or six times, just because I loved him," Lennix said. "Spencer Tracy is hard to get out of my mind. I hope that I'm making it my own."

Lennix has spent a lot of time in Chicago.

"My heart has always been here. My family is still here," Lennix said. "We need a place on the South Side of Chicago that allows people to express themselves, a world class place that is for the community, that is for, by and of the culture that has shaped America, which is Black performance culture."

Lennix told ABC7 why Chicagoans should come out and see this piece.

"This is what the Goodman is known for - is doing the great, war horse American classics," Lennix said. "When you want to see these plays presented with a modern point of view, with current sensibilities of the cast and the creatives behind the scenes, this is the place to do it, and I don't think it is outdone anywhere on the planet."

"Inherit The Wind" has been extended at the Goodman Theatre by popular demand. You can see it through Oct. 20.