'Rope' play will tighten the suspense for audience
Feb. 16—ANDERSON — Murder for the fun of it. That's what makes the play "Rope" unique, according to co-director Cameron Vale.
"It's not a whodunnit. It's a will-they-get-caught type of deal."
The play follows Wyndham Brandon and Charles Granillo and their attempts to outsmart police and other locals.
Vale said the play, written by Patrick Hamilton, is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murder of the 1920s.
In 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were tried for the murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks, who was Loeb's cousin, according to an article from Smithsonian Magazine.
Franks was selected because his father was a wealthy businessman capable of paying the ransom they demanded.
Both were said to have made statements to the press, portraying themselves as supermen, above morality, as described by the philosopher Frederich Nietzsche, according to the Smithsonian article.
Despite planning "the crime of the century," they missed a crucial detail, which led to their capture.
While disposing of the body, Leopold's glasses fell out of his pocket onto the ground near the body. The state's attorney then traced the glasses back to the murderous duo, resulting in their arrest, according to the article.
Two decades after "Rope" was published, it was turned into a 1948 blockbuster directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Both Vale and his wife/co-director, Steph, saw the movie many years ago and enjoyed the genre and its thought-provoking nature.
"It's shows a lot about the evil that human beings are capable of. It's a really good character study about how wealth, power (and) narcissism can get the better of people," said Cameron Vale.
Rope opened Thursday at Alley Theatre and will have performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday.
Contact Caleb Amick at caleb.amick@heraldbulletin.com or 765-648-4254.
