One man is thrown from a building and his former secretary is on trial for the murder in this unique courtroom drama from Ayn Rand.

Audience members coming to see the show may be asked to serve on the jury and the show will end based on their verdict. These are just a few of the twists in this year’s fall production.

The Cloverleaf High School Drama Club will present “The Night of January 16th” Nov. 6-8 at the Cloverleaf High School cafeteria stage. There will be five total performances beginning with a free dress rehearsal for senior citizens Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. The cast will perform the show Nov. 6-8 at 7 p.m., along with a matinee Nov. 8 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door starting one hour prior to each show. Adult tickets are $7. Students and children are $5.

“We decided to perform the show on the smaller stage at the high school so we could create an intimate courtroom environment for the audience members,” fall play director John Carmigiano said.

“It seemed appropriate since some of the people coming to watch the show will even sit on the jury and then be asked to determine the fate of the accused,” he said.

The cafeteria will be transformed into a real-life courtroom under the set designing and production of community member Eric Martin.

“Eric is really good at what he does and we are so blessed to have someone like him helping us out on these productions,” said Carmigiano, who teaches in the CHS English Department.

The Cloverleaf High School thespian troupe rotates comedies and dramas each year, and this courtroom environment will test the actors and actresses once again in a different way.

“Our students are always up for a challenge and this will be no different this year,” Carmigiano said. “We are proud our last few dramas – ‘12 Angry Jurors’ and ‘Diary of Anne Frank’ – and I know they will do a great job with this Ayn Rand play that was written to put the audience right in the mix of things.”

The play is assistant-directed by Cloverleaf art teacher Adam Michel. Student directors are senior Brittany Christy and junior Sarah Oakes. Freshman Catie Hyatt and senior Sarah Sommers will serve as the stage managers.

Seniors Sydney Heil (Defense Lawyer Stevens), Jack Gerber (District Attorney Flint), Daniel Chudzinski (John Graham Whitfield), Janelle Jordan (Judge Heath), Kyle Gloeckner (Jungquist), Sommers (Jane Chandler), and Christy (Mrs. Hutchins) bring experience to the cast.

“Our seniors are a mix of veteran actors and actresses, while others have had some solid opportunity to develop in the One Act Play Festival,” Carmigiano said. “They are really excited to show their growth over the years.”

Rounding out the cast are juniors Kayla Wilson (Judge Heath), Derek Anderson (Elmer Sweeney), Oakes (Nancy Lee Faulkner), Anna Winnicki (Magda Svenson), Michael Martin (Larry Regan); along with sophomores Sophia Reed (Karen Andre), Allison Chudzinski (Dr. Kirkland), Delaney Sheldon (Roberta); and freshmen Austin Mohler (Bailiff), Matt Butt (Van Fleet) and Brianne Anderson (Bailiff).

For a night of entertainment with a little drama, come check out the CHS fall production of “The Night of January 16th.”