STAGE REVIEWS : Summer MysteryFest Production Does In Rand : About the only one who’s not guilty of making ‘The Night of January 16th’ at the Patio Theatre worse is the actress who portrays the defendant.

The Summer MysteryFest at Golden West College has opened its season at the outdoor Patio Theatre this year with a lackluster production of Ayn Rand’s “The Night of January 16th,” which is running in repertory with Agatha Christie’s “Verdict” (see accompanying review).

A courtroom drama, “January 16th” casts the audience as the jury deliberating the case of the People vs. Karen Andre, accused of murdering Bjorn Faulkner, bandit tycoon and longtime lover of the defendant.

For one thing, the play has several glaring holes in it. The dead body has been cremated--even though it is prime evidence in a scandalous case involving a prominent philanthropist and a reputed underworld kingpin. Oops. And the whole story hinges creakily on the suggestion of evil inherent in a woman who lives unapologetically in sin with her employer and has the nerve to give him business advice, to boot.

By retooling the plot to place the action in Orange County, the MysteryFest has only made things worse. The time of death, for example, cannot accurately be determined because the blood of the corpse supposedly congealed due to the extreme cold. You know those brutal California Januarys.

Nevertheless, director Charles Mitchell seems to be aiming for courtroom verite. Witnesses appear from among the audience to take the stand. The handsome set by Jennifer Eldridge--lit by Jon Limbacher in an institutional whitewash from which no secrets are safe--effectively suggests the formality and grandeur of a chamber of justice. The cast photos in the program resemble mug shots, evidence of a sense of humor that unhappily is absent from the rest of the proceedings.

The pacing is that of bureaucratic boredom. The audience sighed audibly when the testimony officially concluded. The illusive drama of the courtroom, with its high stakes and masked passions, absolutely eludes this production.

The bright light of the evening is Stacey Leigh Ivey’s classy, textured performance as the ambitious and passionate Karen Andre. The rest of the cast muddles through, distinguished occasionally by an interesting tic or an unusually baleful glare. The two blunt-edged attorneys are virtually indistinguishable from one another, and Andre’s lawyer blundered so frequently that a woman of her client’s savvy would have demanded better representation on the spot.

Now that might have been exciting!

“The Night of January 16th”

A Golden West College Summer MysteryFest production of the play by Ayn Rand, directed by Charles Mitchell. Scenic design by Jennifer Eldridge. Lighting design by Jon Limbacher. Sound design by Mark Raber. Costume design by Trish Farnsworth. With Karen Houston, David Zebe, Bernie Bank, Blake Ellis, Patty DeBaun, Rollo Sternaman, Stephen Silva, Erin Granahan, Amy Wieczorek, Stacey Leigh Ivey, Jim Slabacheski, Kelly Sherwood, Frankie Carrera, Larry Cardwell, Mariya Tullai, Marcia Bonnitz, William Watts, Emily Reneau, Jeff Bickel, David Bencomo and Belinda Wilson. Continues today, July 5, 8, 9, 10, 18 and 19 at 8:30 p.m. at the Patio Theatre, 15744 Golden West St., Huntington Beach. Tickets: $8 and $10. (714) 895-8378.