hobnob theatre co Auditions: Rope

Rope  
by Patrick Hamilton  
Presented by the hobnob theatre
134 South Main Street, Butler, PA 16001

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PLAY SYNOPSIS
Believing themselves to be intellectually superior to their contemporaries, two young university students,  Wyndham Brandon and Charles Granillo, have murdered fellow student Ronald Kentley as an expression  of their supposed intellectual superiority. With Kentley’s body still warm, they proceed to host a party for  his friends and family atop the locked chest in which his corpse is hidden. Throughout the night,  speculation arises among the guests as to the contents of the chest. Tension increases during the evening  as Rupert, a former teacher/housemaster of Brandon and Granillo, becomes suspicious as to the  whereabouts of young Ronald Kentley and the reason for the strange dining arrangement.

Rope explores themes of intellectual superiority, morality, and the consequences of unchecked arrogance,  culminating in the unraveling of their perfect crime as their guests, including Ronald’s father and a former  teacher, become suspicious. The play is inspired by the real-life case of Leopold and Loeb, two American  students who murdered a young boy in 1924. First produced and published in 1929, and adapted for film  by Alfred Hitchcock in 1948, Rope remains one of the classics of the thriller genre, and its themes are still  relevant today.

As an interesting side note, there is a Butler connection to this story. Joan Chandler, who played a leading  role in the Alfred Hitchcock film, was born and raised in Butler and attended Butler High School. Her  father, William Carl Cheeseman, was a Butler businessman who managed a local car dealership.