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READ REVIEWS GET IN ON THE TEEN SCENES TEEN REVIEWERS AND CRITICS LINKS TO OTHER COOL STUFF |
TRaC Review Izabella Safiyeva (Visual Arts TRaC, Fall 05) Reviews Rope at Drama Dept.  Patrick Hamilton's Rope (1929) is about the age-old quest to commit the perfect crime, with just one little exception: commit the perfect crime just to show that you're smart enough to get away with it. And that's the kind of thrilling, twisting and turning Rope that the Drama Dept. presents at the Zipper Theatre. Oh, what a splendid evening it was, a secular and intellectual conversation among the young and the restless. What could be better than a lively conversation about rotting bones and corpses? All in a chest off of which the tea is served. The hosts are Brandon and Granillo, both Oxford men, who have invited people over to sort out some books, and to sort out something far more sinister. Right away, the conversation turns morbid as Brandon's guests discover his murderous schemes. The people were joyfully conversing about the provocative possibility of a murdered man, locked inside the chest; Brandon of course being lead on as the executer. "Murder is adventure", said Brandon in the heat of the moment, and that it is not necessary to get caught after committing a crime. Granillo was sipping whiskey and visibly becomes more and more paranoid with each sarcastic remark that Rupert, the guest makes. Tension grows and sparks fly between those two and Granillo getting agitated when Rupert kept on inquiring how Granillo could never went to the coliseum. A parallel is drawn throughout the play connecting the coliseum with everyone and everything else. As Rupert persists Granillo is nearing a breakdown. In addition to that, Brandon and Granillo get into an argument about the misplaced coliseum ticket. Granillo one again turns to the bottle. At this point in time, Rupert is onto them. Granillo hates Rupert and the fact that the misplaced coliseum ticket was found by no other than Rupert -- this caused Granillo's final breakdown. Irrelevant guest at first, Sir Johnstone Kentley spurs up the atmosphere when he learns that his son has not returned back from the coliseum. Soon after that, Rupert harasses Brandon to say the truth about the ticket that caused the argument between him and Granillo and the chest. An innocent and playful idea of a dead man in the chest started to make sense to Rupert. Poor Ronald Kentley, an innocent 20 year old was rope strangled according to the twisted idea of the two Oxford men. All along the tea and the secular conversations, the rotting bones and the corpse were really there. |