Rope
by Patrick Hamilton
Auditions Fri 10 Jan 2020 7-10pm & Sun 12 Jan 2020 12-4pm
Rehearsals will be Mon & Thu evenings starting on the Mon 9 Mar 2020. Extra rehearsals may be called to be decided once cast.
Show dates: Tue 9- Fri 12 Jun 2020 in the Wilde Theatre
College student Brandon wants excitement and little cares how he gets it. He persuades his weaker minded friend, Granillo, to assist him in the ‘perfect’ motiveless murder of a fellow undergraduate. The two place the body in a wooden chest and, to add a little spice to the proceedings, invite a few guests round to a party that very night including the dead student’s father; the chest with its gruesome contents serving as a supper table.
Loosely based on the real events of the Leopold and Loeb murder case of 1924 the horror and tension in the play slowly build as does the thunder outside and the suspicions of their former tutor, Rupert Cadell.
First produced and performed in 1929 it was later turned into a film by Alfred Hitchcock and remains to this day one of the classics of the thriller genre.
Characters: (ages are a rough guide but the two students will need to be noticeably younger)
Wyndham Brandon (early 20s) – A student. Clever, neat and possess a natural, cold calmness which to some means they find him unlikeable. Has a rich, competent and easy voice. The brains behind the “operation”.
Charles Granillo (early 20s) – A student. Has Spanish routes but speaks English fluently. Extremely courteous. The much more nervous of the two perpetrators. More ornately turned out than Brandon. He seems a “thoroughly good sort”.
Sabot (30s/40s) – The student’s manservant. A Frenchman described as being the perfect servant. Intelligent, alert and obedient. Seems breathless around people and almost wanting to apologise for something all the time.
Kenneth Raglan (30s) – an ex student of the college Brandon and Granillo are attending. Simple, shy, foolish and “good”. He tries to hide these facts but fails. Seems rather pathetic in the company of the students; especially Brandon.
Leila Arden (Late 20s/30s) – Like Raglan has no real ideas. Also like Raglan tries to hide this with a show of sophistication. Has a fairly good stock of many-syallbled words which comes out with comic emphasis.
Sir Johnstone Kentley (50s) – The dead man’s father. A decidedly pleasant old gentleman. Slow-moving, utterly harmless, gentle and a little listless. The fact that he has been a position of authority for most of his life still comes across.
Mrs Debenham (late 40s/early 50s) – The sister of Sir Johnstone. Plainly dressed and has been widowed a long time. She hardly ever opens her mouth with her sole means of expression being a sudden, broad, affable smirk.
Rupert Cadell (40s) – The student’s former tutor. Foppish in his dress and appearance. This impression is increased by the use of an exquisite walking stick as he is lame in his right leg. Enormously affected in his speech and carriage. Speaks as if he’s weary of all things.
Auditions will be by appointment please contact luke.burton@nullsouthhillpark.org.uk to book a slot.
Please prepare a suitable monologue of your own choosing, you will also be given a script segment for your chosen character at the audition to perform.
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