# Long shot, but...what was the name of the play we put on in high school (1960)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** theater-stage-dance\ **Created:** [April 21, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279 "2025-04-21T00:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/1 "2025-04-21T00:12:25Z")
The Drama Club, or whatever it was called, put on a play. It was a courtroom murder mystery, I think. The gimmick was that a number of people from the audience would be “empaneled” as the jury prior to the first act. The play was constructed so as to leave the outcome in some doubt. Then, when the play was over, the “jury” had to render a verdict. I think it was “Where were you on the 20th of January?” Probably an old chestnut of high school drama clubs. I wonder if anyone here is at all familiar with this play, and if the title is known. (This was my stepping stone to Hollywood, but I must have taken a wrong turn.) Dopers? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/2 "2025-04-21T00:16:47Z")
Night of January 16th by Ayn Rand > **[Night of January 16th](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_January_16th)** > > Night of January 16th (sometimes advertised as The Night of January 16th) is a theatrical play by Russian-born American writer Ayn Rand, inspired by the death of Swedish industrialist Ivar Kreuger. The play is set in a courtroom during a murder trial, and an unusual feature is that members of the audience are chosen to play the jury. The court hears the case of Karen Andre, a former secretary and lover of businessman Bjorn Faulkner who is accused of his murder. The play does not directly por... > The play is set in a courtroom during a murder trial, and an **unusual feature is that members of the audience are chosen to play the jury**. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/3 "2025-04-21T00:48:24Z")
Unfrickinbelievable! The SDMB comes through again! Great find. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/4 "2025-04-21T00:51:55Z")
5 minutes flat. Not a record, but close! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/5 "2025-04-21T01:20:57Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Unfrickinbelievable! The SDMB comes through again! Great find. Thank you. No problem. I saw the play myself back in the 90s > [@LSLGuy](#): > > 5 minutes flat. Not a record, but close! I strive for the record each time, though ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/6 "2025-04-21T03:19:23Z")
At the bottom of this page is an old, unsolved ID This Play? thread. Maybe someone could have some luck with it. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/7 "2025-04-21T23:30:07Z")
It’s not at the bottom of my page (the selected threads listed below a thread are possibly individualized by user?). Can you give the actual link? ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/8 "2025-04-22T01:12:49Z")
I’ll try. > [@ID this play?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-play/564778): > > I saw it a long time ago on TV. IIRC, it was set in the waiting room of a Gestapo officer. There was a real sense of dread, in that no one knew the what the fate of the characters was going to be- whether they would be going to their doom. Wish I could remember more.frowning Hey, looks like it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/9 "2025-04-22T01:34:49Z")
Thank you ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/10 "2025-04-22T01:37:46Z")
We did this play in my high school drama club (in the early '80s). I can still recite the first couple paragraphs of the prosecuting attorney’s speech from memory after all this time. “On the night of January 16th near midnight, when the lights of Broadway blazed an electric dawn over the gay crowd below, the body of a man came hurtling through space and crashed, a disfigured mess, to the ground below.” (“ground” might be wrong… my memory deserted me right at the end.) ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/11 "2025-04-22T01:44:44Z")
You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/12 "2025-04-22T02:55:58Z")
My part started with the line, “My name is Elmer Sweeney.” It was downhill from there. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/13 "2025-04-23T21:07:35Z")
I know, I know–don’t laugh. But the end of the line popped into my head later the same night so I had to finish it: “…the body of a man came hurtling through space and crashed, a disfigured mess, at the foot of the Faulkner Building.” ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-shot-but-what-was-the-name-of-the-play-we-put-on-in-high-school-1960/1017279/14 "2025-04-23T21:11:58Z")
> My part started with the line, “My name is Elmer Sweeney.” It was downhill from there. Ah, yes, the janitor. Funny story (sorta–it was funny at the time): I played the court recorder in the play (I think I had one line–mostly all I had to do was sit by the bench and pretend to type). At one point, the kid playing Elmer Sweeney came up to me, during an actual performance, and whispered, “So–what’s your opinion on oral sex?” I don’t think he was trying to be creepy, just trying to see if he could get a rise out of me. It didn’t work. 😛 Wow, you just brought back a memory I hadn’t thought about since the early Eighties. 😃