The shadow of Ayn Rand (The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged) looms large over modern times. Her unapologetic defense of unregulated capitalism and selfishness has left its mark on everything from the Tea Party to Alan Greenspan, her close friend and disciple, who helmed the Federal Reserve for nearly two decades. Her philosophies are to Fortune 500 CEOs what Scientology is to movie stars.

 

In this intimate, two-character play, Ayn herself is put on trial—with the audience as the jury, deciding her ultimate verdict. Guilty or not guilty? You decide the ending.

 

Was Rand’s championing of laissez-faire capitalism the fountainhead of today’s economic woes? Has her glorification of selfishness fueled Social Darwinism? And in her personal life, did she live up to the standards of her fictional heroes, like the infamous John Galt?

 

The trial probes the strengths and weaknesses of her philosophies, along with the more colorful aspects of her life: her drug use, her affair with a much younger man, and her fiery temperament. From her testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to her influence on Federal Reserve policy, this play lays out both sides of the argument and lets the audience deliver the verdict—just as Ayn herself did in The Night of January 16th.