12/9/21

After the death of an international magnate a young woman is accused of killing him and brought to trial. This play depicts that trial with the unusual gimmick that the jury is selected from the audience and no one knows how the trial will end until the jury brings back the verdict. ( )

I must say, this is the best play I read in my life. Bjorn Faulkner, Karen Andre and Lawrence Regan took my breath away. It is a play that takes place in a courtroom. It is not a huge story with too many incidents but a small one that leaves the whole scenario to the reader's imagination. As always, I'm impressed with Faulkner and Regan. Ayn Rand as always knows exactly what kind of men are needed in today's world. They both were fearless, they get what they want, they rule the world and when it comes to love, they give everything. Karen's love and devotion for Faulkner is beyond words. Regan who is a gangster by profession but also knows how to respect love when he sees it. I'm always amazed at the kind of main male characters that Ayn Rand designs in her books. I wonder if such men do really exist in today's world. Men who fear nothing, who have sky-high goals, who work for what they want, who refuse bow to none, who crush the rules set by the so-called society and men who love beyond any kind of scale that is ever built in this world. Hats-off to Ayn Rand! She is the hero.
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A lot of people seem to review Ayn Rand just to have a chance to display their lack of wit in acerbic rants--the woman inspires a lot of invective. I'm actually a fan and admirer of her writing and ideas by and large, yet even I give this pretty low marks. Only I think for those who feel they must read everything by her. Mind you, maybe this would play better on the stage than on the page. The play calls for audience participation, and I can imagine that could be a lot of fun. Members of the audience are empaneled as the jury and in the end vote on the guilt or innocence of the accused.

I think it's obvious knowing Rand she'd vote for acquittal. Rand says in the introduction she tried to weigh the evidence in such a way that you could go either way on guilt or innocence so what would come into play are your own values and prejudices. I have to admit, the lawyer in me rather winces at that very concept. Because under the American system, surely if there's a reasonable doubt as to guilt, surely that calls for a non-guilty verdict whatever your beliefs? So I can't really get behind the premise and the concept seems rather gimmicky to me--even if I admit overall I enjoyed the read, those flaws bug me too much to rate this higher. Incidentally, though this is the title in the production of the play, I greatly prefer Rand's original title: Penthouse Legend. ( )

...Interesting plot and concept; enjoyed reading. ( )