MHS Play To Use Audience Involvement
14 Dec 2006

Night of January 16th has been chosen as the second production in this year’s theatre season for Manchester High School.
A classic WHO DUNNIT! This courtroom drama takes the audience through the murder trial of Karen Andre. Night of January 16th, written by author Ayn Rand, is a murder trial without a pre-arranged verdict. The jurors are selected from the audience. They witness the play as real jurors, sitting on stage in the jurors box, and reach a verdict at the end of the last act. Two endings are written for the play and the actors must be ready for either ending to be used according to the verdict.
“Audience members will have a chance to put their names in a lottery to be drawn at the beginning of the show if they would like to have a chance to serve on the jury,” said Director Marilyn Sexton Mason.
Mason said that she has enjoyed bringing this courtroom drama to the high school stage. “This is a completely different kind of show for the students to experience. All of the witnesses, lawyers and court employees have their moment to impact the way the jurors and the audience will view this case. Those of us involved in the show are very anxious to see what the verdict will be at each performance.
“The cast is actually hoping for different verdicts at each show. I hope that everyone can listen to the testimony of the witnesses and try to put the pieces of the case together for themselves. It should make for some interesting conversations after the show,” Mason added.
The cast includes: Franchesca Herrera, Victoria Williams, Jessamy Rogers, Cindi Myers, Kristen Lahman, Rex Tharp, Brandon Gray, Jack Messer, Jada Nichols, Leah Grant, Andrew Chinworth, Jessica Petrie, Will Myers, Adam Knowles, Jennifer Hapner, Jacob Hutchinson, and Emma Naragon. “We have talked a great deal about character development in this show,” said Mason. “The actors have had the opportunity to think about ways that they can deliver lines or how they dress so that they jury might form a certain opinion of them. We’ll have to see if it works,” she added.
Mason did say that this particular show may prove to be challenging for the actors. “Teenagers generally like to do comedies because they really respond to laughter from an audience,” said Mason. “This show will be a challenge for them because the audience will more than likely be fairly silent during the show. This is a show that needs to be absorbed and thought about by the audience. This is a completely different experience for the actors and I think it helps them grow in their theatre craft,” she explained.
Aside from getting ready for the production itself, which in this case took six-eight weeks, the set construction also takes time and is sometimes tidious. “In a drama such as this, the set is often another character of the show,” said Mason. “We have a beautiful courtroom on our stage and I hope that people will appreciate all of thw ork that Dennis Unger and David Hippensteel put into it. Also, every cast member helped with the painting and staining. I think it is important for the actors to get their hands dirty on their show by working back stage on the set,” Mason added.
Those “behind the scenes” workers are as follows: lights and sound crew, Matt Carver, Cody Semler, Kyle Henderson, Jacob Brumbaugh-Smith with help from Tom Trinh and Zach Sievers; hair and make up crew, Kayla Brown, Reilly Kirkpatrick, Maya Hippensteel, Sara Gable, and Jaina Alexander; set construction and design, Dennis Unger and David Hippensteel; technical director, Mark McKee; PAC coordinator, Suzan Skaar.
The show is Thursday, December 14th at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, December 16th at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 17th at 2:00 p.m. All shows are at the Performing Arts Center of the high school and tickets may be purchased at the door for $3 for students and $6 for adults.
Call Marilyn Mason at the high school if you have questions. 982-2196, Ext. 331.