Hobnob Theatre’s ‘Rope’ tightens the tension
“But surely your murderer, having chopped up and concealed his victim in a chest, wouldn’t ask all his friends to come round and eat off it.”
That line lands with bite in Hobnob Theatre Company’s new production of Patrick Hamilton’s “Rope,” and by the time it arrives, the audience has already been squirming for quite a while. Directed by Duane Peters, this staging of “Rope” embraces the play’s peculiar brilliance — it is a murder mystery in which the audience knows the villains’ identities from the beginning.
The action unfolds in the 1920s, in a second-floor London apartment shared by Wyndham Brandon and Charles Granillo. Peters’ set places the audience on three sides of the room, emphasizing the claustrophobic tension of the play. At center stage sits the trunk, which serves as the literal and metaphorical heart of the production.
Peters begins the production in near total darkness. For the first 13 minutes, the only illumination comes from a street lamp filtering through the window and the glow of a fireplace. The effect is a striking film noir-like chiaroscuro that sets the tone for the evening’s moral murkiness.
At the center of the drama are Sam Thinnes as Brandon and Giancarlo Zingarelli as Granillo, the two young men responsible for the murder. Thinnes plays Brandon with a confidence barely masking something far more dangerous. Thinnes’ posh accent and controlled physicality suggest a man intoxicated by his own intellect.
Early on, Brandon casually tosses matches across the darkened room and watches Granillo scramble and pant as he searches for them. It is a small moment, but it establishes the dynamic immediately — Brandon dominates, while Granillo exists in a constant state of nervous agitation.
Zingarelli leans fully into that panic. His Granillo is needy, sensitive and perpetually on the verge of collapse. Breathless line deliveries and jittery movement build to a crescendo of near hysteria as the evening progresses.
Cole Myers brings a wide-eyed innocence to Kenneth Raglan, delivering a strong accent and an almost childlike eagerness that makes Brandon’s constant verbal needling feel particularly cruel. Laila Tyler’s Leila Arden is every inch the stylish flapper, clearly aware of her effect on Raglan and perfectly comfortable letting that dynamic play out.
John Henry Steelman lends quiet dignity to Sir Johnstone Kentley, who has been invited to the apartment under the pretense of purchasing some books. Because the audience knows what lies in the trunk, Kentley becomes the emotional center of the evening with every polite exchange carrying a sense of impending devastation.
Costuming by Danyle Verzinskie, Elizabeth Smith and the cast helps reinforce the period aesthetic, while Molly Miller’s maid character, Sabot, adds texture to the world of the play with a servile demeanor and a French accent.
But it’s Greg Crawford’s performance as Rupert Cadell that is the standout of the evening. With a sonorous voice and commanding presence, Crawford plays Cadell as a man who seems perpetually one step ahead of everyone else in the room. His carefully chosen words feel like moves in a chess match whose endgame he alone can see.
In Act 2, Crawford delivers a monologue examining the moral difference between war and murder — a passage that forms the ethical backbone of the play. In his hands, the words become both intellectually compelling and quietly chilling.
The genius of “Rope” lies in its structure. This is not a traditional whodunit — it is a “whydunit.” The suspense comes from watching the noose slowly tighten around the murderers’ necks. Every misplaced word and every lingering glance at the trunk ratchets the tension higher.
By the time Brandon’s carefully maintained composure finally cracks — a moment Thinnes plays with explosive rage — the audience has been holding its collective breath for nearly two hours.
Hobnob Theatre’s production of “Rope” proves that nearly a century after it was written, Hamilton’s dark psychological thriller still has the power to unsettle. With strong performances and effective staging, this production reminds us that sometimes the most gripping mysteries are the ones to which we already know the answer, and we’re waiting for everyone else to catch up.
“Rope” runs 120 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission. The show runs March 13 to 15 and March 19 to 21 at the theater, 134 S. Main St. in Butler. For more information, visit hobnobtheatre.com. There is a waitlist for all performances.
