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When one mentions Rope, the automatic response is to think of the innovative Alfred Hitchcock movie, based on the sensational 1920's Leopold & Loeb murder case, which starred Jimmy Stewart and was filmed in a way to seem as though everything was taking place in real time.
Before the film, though, was the play version, written by Patrick Hamilton. The original case took place in Chicago, Hitchcock's film was set in New York City, but Mr. Hamilton moved his play to his hometown of London. The play revolves around two brilliant, bored millionaires' sons who strangle a fellow classmate for the thrill of it, then invite the victim's father and some of their friends to a party in the same room where the corpse has been hidden. Despite their seeming perfect handling of the crime, their plans begin to unravel, and the play becomes a cat-and-mouse game with a major dash of philosophical and moral debate thrown in. The script does have a tendency to move rather slowly, and there is a lot more mental action than physical, but when done exceptionally well, the play can be an interesting evening of theatre. Unfortunately, the current TheatreWorks' production, directed by Wanda McHatton, is sabotaged by the script, sinking into the morass of inaction and longwinded debate, and is never able to rise above it.
At the center of the play are the two brilliant murderers, played by Scott Van de Mark and Beau Heckman. Mr. Van de Mark is coldly efficient and emotionless, but his character starts to become too one-note until the last five minutes of the play. Granted, this is probably the fault of the script, but Mr. Van de Mark could have tried something to give more gradations to his portrayal. Mr. Heckman's character begins to unravel as their plans collapse, but he tips his hand too soon and has little room to spiral downward as the play progresses.
In his role as the equally brilliant Rupert Cadell, a poet who inadvertently becomes the makeshift detective and reluctant judge, R.K. Stevens gives the most solid of the performances, though even he is unable to stop the script's slip into mundane philosophical haranguing that accompanies the denouement. The rest of the cast gives acceptable performances in their smaller roles, with a bit more notice given to Kevin Cleere as the rather simple, likable friend. The biggest criticism for all of the cast, besides the low energy and the times of stilted dialogue is the blatant inconsistency of accents, which appear and disappear with alarming frequency.
Gregory Jaye's set and David Wo's lighting design appeared at the start to be solid, and even impressive, but there were so many technical problems--doors that fall off their tracks, lights that took several seconds to turn on and off after actors hit switches and at times turned on and off without a cue, that by the end of the evening, the biggest running joke for the audience had nothing to do with the script, but with which actor was going to have to deal with another technical hitch. Again, Margret Emerson's costume design was perfect within the period of the script, but once again the shoe choices were wildly inaccurate, and one actors' shoes even looked like they should have been paired with a 70's leisure suit.
This seems to be another time when a theatre company's efforts have been sabotaged by their source material, although lackluster performances and other problems helped to sink the show a bit faster than it would otherwise have done.
As a side note, in reference to Robert Pela's October 17th article slamming the choices for seasons by theatre companies, most notably TheatreWorks for their lack of innovative choices since moving to within shouting distance of Sun City, I was treated after the show with a confrontation between an elderly patron and an usher. The patron vehemently pointed out that she felt the acting was good, but the subject matter was totally inappropriate, and that her husband walked out just after the show started when it was established that the play was about a murder. She wanted David Wo to know her opinion. All I can say is, despite sacrificing such innovation which brought "Assassins" to the stage for a season that includes such "cash-cows" as "Steel Magnolias" and "Hello Dolly!," the local gentry is still not happy. It is precisely for this reason that, despite higher costs during their temporary stay at this location, they should have stuck with what they've done well, since their pandering still brings complaints about material from their neighbors.
Production Details:
"Rope" by Patrick Hamilton
TheatreWorks, Peoria
815-7930
October 18th-November 10th, 1996
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