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Feeling that cultural activities on his law school campus were lacking, James Abels ’00 decided to take matters into his own hands.
“Fundamentally, I believe that a student body must demonstrate its inherent abilities, skills, and vision by getting involved in the school’s cultural life,” says Abels, a recent graduate of Seton Hall Law School. Which is why he approached Lafayette alumna Jennifer Nasta ’99 with the idea of putting on Ayn Rand’s Penthouse Legend, a play in the form of a full legal trial.
“I felt certain that in my third and final year of law school, I could transplant a bit of Lafayette’s campus culture to Seton Hall Law while satisfying an unfulfilled college goal: to produce a play,” explains Abels, who produced the show and also played the part of Judge Heath. “I knew Jennifer had the theatrical experience I lacked as well as the sort of intelligence and drive that I was confident a fellow Lafayette student would possess. When I approached Jenn with what I had in mind, I thought the smile that spread across her face might freeze into place.”
Appropriately for a law school production, the show’s drama unfolds during the murder trial of defendant Karen Andre, who is being tried for the murder of Bjorn Faulkner, a recently married industrial tycoon who is also Andre’s lover. As the show progresses, equal evidence for and against Andre is presented by opposing counsel, leaving it to the 12-member jury, randomly chosen from the audience, to decide the play’s outcome.
“When James approached me about doing Penthouse Legend, I immediately knew it was the perfect choice,” says Nasta, who was the play’s director and lead actress in the role of Karen Andre. “I had long loved this play for its difficult material and thoughtful presentation of the power and importance of individualism.”
“Penthouse Legend does not ask its audience to apply current tenets of law,” Nasta adds. “Instead, the rules of evidence and procedure are discarded in order to pose a more basic social and, ultimately, personal question: What is your sense of life?”
The strong drive from the student body to participate allowed the 16-member cast to be quickly rounded out by first-, second-, and third-year students from both day and evening sessions. Performances of Penthouse Legend took place April 23, 25, 28, and 29.
Participants plan to use the roused interest and monetary proceeds to launch a new theatrical association at the law school.
“I am unabashed to say that our theatrical partnership is a testament to Lafayette, representing the self-confidence and administrative skill required to turn a vision into a reality,” says Abels.
A government and law graduate, Abels will spend the next year serving as the law clerk for New Jersey Superior Court Judge Jonathan N. Harris in Bergen County. In college, he was editor of The Lafayette.
Nasta, a second-year student planning to practice intellectual property law, majored in English at Lafayette, where she was a veteran actress of the stage. Additionally, she studied at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater in Waterford, Conn., and participated in a two-week workshop at Moscow Art Theater in Russia. Before entering Seton Hall, Nasta was an English teacher and drama director at St. John Vianney High School in St. Louis, Mo. She hopes to one day own her own theater company.