Rope

Rope by Stuff of Dreams Theatre Company

Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft

Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 2 November 2013

Growing in stature, Stuff of Dreams have embraced another challenge for their latest tour with the 1929 Patrick Hamilton play, Rope, adapted by Hitchcock for his film of the same name.

On the surface a classic thriller with a very dark story, it’s also a psychological drama exploring the mind of a killer (Tom Moran) who is both disturbed/unstable and compelling/charming aided by a weaker sidekick (Eliot Ruocco-Trenouth).

Two young men strangle a friend for little more motive than that they could, the ‘perfect crime.’ His body lies in a chest that serves as a table from which guests including the deceased’s father eat a meal.

One guest (Elliott Hughes) is suspicious, detective-like and probes away at the mystery of the chest until he breaks the criminals and the Law is imminent. It is a satisfying conclusion for a pair of wasteful, unlovely youths.

Cordelia Spence directs her young cast superbly, achieving a fine balance between well-drawn caricatures in a mannered piece of its era and a tale to grip a contemporary audience.