A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE

Rope

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  2w, 6m

In this harrowing suspense thriller, a sociopathic university student persuades his weak-minded friend to assist him in the murder of a perfectly harmless fellow undergraduate.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 6m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Mystery/Thriller
  • Suggested Use
    • Cutting Approved for Competition
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
For the mere sake of adventure, danger, and the “fun of the thing,” Wyndham Brandon persuades his weak-minded friend, Charles Granillo, to assist him in the murder of a fellow undergraduate, a perfectly harmless man named Ronald Raglan. They place the body in a wooden chest, and to add spice to their handiwork, invite a few acquaintances, including the dead youth’s father, to a party, the chest with its gruesome contents serving as a supper table. The horror and tension are worked up gradually; thunder grows outside, the guests leave, and we see the reactions of the two murderers, watched closely by the suspecting lame poet Rupert Cadell. Finally, they break down under the strain and confess their guilt.
History
Rope premiered in London at the Ambassadors Theatre on 25 April 1929. Directed by Reginald Denham, the production featured Brian Aherne, Anthony Ireland and Ernest Milton. Retitled Rope’s End, the play premiered on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre (then called the Theatre Masque) on 13 September 1929. Directed by Denham, the Broadway production featured Sebastian Shaw and Ivan Brandt, with Ernest Milton reprising his performance as Rupert Cadell.
WYNDHAM BRANDON – Young
CHARLES GRANILLO – A Spaniard, young
KENNETH RAGLAN – Very young
LEILA ARDEN – Young
SIR JOHNSTONE KENTLEY – Old
MRS DEBENHAM – About 50
RUPERT CADELL – About 29
  • Time Period 1920s
  • Setting Brandon and Granillo’s house in Mayfair, London. 1929.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Mild Adult Themes
    • Smoking

Media

“Delicious... a thriller that invites you to think deeply from the edge of your seat.” – Variety
“Time has been good to Rope, Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 play about two young Oxford students who thrill-kill a fellow student and then throw a party while his corpse lies stuffed in an onstage trunk. Hamilton injects his script with enough delicious suspense to rightfully merit the title of forgotten classic.” – Variety

Licensing & Materials

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Authors

Patrick Hamilton

Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962) was born in Hassocks, Sussex in 1904. He and his parents moved a short while later to Hove, where he spent his early years. He published his first novel, Craven House, in 1926 and within a few years had established a wide readership for himself.

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