If you’re gonna dream, dream big. That’s what I like most of all about the original script, “Lady of the Night,” penned by high school students Chase Ledin and Clare Jaymes, being premiered this weekend at ThePlace@TheWoodward. Though constrained by the limitations of the performance venue, this dedicated student production, directed by the authors and produced by the Mount Vernon Players, flexes enough muscle to make a strong case for this entertaining mix of desperate romance and melodramatic action.

Without going into detail, the essence of the plot is that Elsie, a 1920s good girl — daughter of the police chief, no less — begins sneaking out of the house at night to live it up as a “flapper” at a downtown speakeasy named “Lady of the Night.” Dance turns to romance as Elsie meets Leo, a youth who wants to get out of the gangster scene to become a writer. But escape is not so easy, as the pair gets caught up in the dangerous intrigues of gang power struggles. To say any more would spoil the plot, so I’ll stop there.