review - Night of January 16th

Night of January 16th

by Ayn Rand

directed by Charles Picerni

Odyssey Theatre

through November 14

First produced in 1934 and then a hit of the 1935-36 Broadway season, Ayn Rand's Night of January 16th is a full out courtroom drama, intense for that era, which may very well have inspired TV series such as Perry Mason in the 60s, the granddaddy and  springboard for such contemporary series as Law and Order. The current production at the Odyssey has a fine cast, but by today's standards the play is far less riveting a drama than say the classic Witness for the Prosecution.

Inspired by Ivar Kreuger, referred to as the "Match King", it concerns a Swedish corporate criminal/swindler who fell 50 stories to his death from a penthouse apartment in New York City. The man called Bjorn Faulkner in the play had a wealthy wife Nancy (Ann Henson) and mistress Karen Andre (Nancy Young) who lived in the penthouse at the time of the death, first labeled a suicide and later murder. Andre is the prime suspect and the play treats her defense. Wife Nancy had a billionaire father John Whitfield (Cal Bartlett) who catered to her every need, including keeping Faulkner's failing business alive through hefty loans, only as a means of consoling his daughter who claimed love for her husband despite his overt indiscretions. It's a predictable triangle involving greed and jealousy: did the mistress kill Faulkner because of his fidelity to the wife or did the wife (or her father) do it because of Faulkner's refusal to let the mistress go? A pretty tame plot. The mistress has another lover, and there's an unexpected piece of evidence that provides a momentary surprise at the close of Act I, but who cares? Even the issue that money talks, that the wealthy get away with murder wears fairly thin at this point in time.

The ensemble is excellent with a motley array of characters, including a playful Don Moss and Richard C. Hawkes as the opposing attorneys, Young beautiful and vibrant as Andre, Henson equally sincere in her portrayal of the wife, Bartlett strong and resolute as Whitfield, Larrs Jackson appropriately firm as the judge, Steve Peterson forthright as a handwriting expert, and particularly engaging are Arthur Richardson as a security guard, Terri  Marsteiner as Faulkner's nosy housekeeper and Andre Tenerelli as an overly loyal former bookkeeper. Praise as well to Yancey Dunham, Michael Bruce, Ivan Borodin, John Gloske, John Candelaria, Aaron Benore, Daniel Lee Everson and Dianna Leanne Wilson as the court stenographer.

An interesting feature of the play is that 12 members of the audience are chosen at the top to be the jury and their decision determines the outcome at each performance. This was the way it was originally done on Broadway in the 30s, certainly a novel concept ahead of its time. However, in spite of this and the good acting, the play offers little to sustain interest in 2010, unless, of course, you are a die-hard courtroom drama fan.

3 out of 5 stars