★★★☆☆
Three Stars
Rope is in many respects an excellent piece of theatre. The Union setting is perfect. The stone fireplace, dark wooden panelling and grand ceiling immediately throw us into the lives of the 1920s upper-class elite-to-be. And the grandeur doesn’t take away from the intimacy of the piece. The audience watch from both sides, almost uncomfortably close. Our presence reinforces the notion that Brandon (Joe Prospero) and Granillo (Jonathan Purkiss) are walking a dangerous path, unable to put even a toe out of line. The stage itself has been designed and assembled with great attention to detail. The focus is the red chest, but the periphery contains everything that’s need to convincingly create Brandon and Granillo’s front room. Beyond this, white lilies and sandwiches summon images of a wake, though their function on stage is as the trappings of a dinner party. The stage is lit by lamplight only and this works well. We are readied for a macabre evening
The opening of the play brings us straight into the action. Confronted with murder, we observe a body being hauled into the chest and are left to ponder its presence for the rest of the performance. Indeed much depends upon our reaction to the chest and for those who do not engage with it, the play will lose much of its effect. Prospero (Brandon) and Purkiss (Granillo) do an excellent job of opening the show. The contrast between the cold, calm and confident Brandon standing static in front of the fire and the panicking, active Granillo is played out competently. In a lovely directorial touch, the contrast is mirrored later by Rupert Cadell (Jared Fortune) and Brandon. This time it is Brandon who has lost control.
Unfortunately, the cast do not manage to consistently sustain the mood so well created at the start. This is a problem as the play’s impact relies on its steadily building tension. I only truly felt emotionally engaged at two specific points in the play – when Sir Johnstone hears that his son hasn’t yet arrived home and at the very end of the show. This is perhaps due to dialogue that can at times be overhasty, both between characters and individually. Some of the best lines of the play were somewhat thrown away. A second problem is in the character development of Brandon and Granillo. The audience should be drawn in by them and repulsed in equal measure. However, at the point where I should have felt most sympathetic towards Brandon – the moment he shows some humanity – I was left unengaged and unconvinced.
The leads were in danger of being outperformed by the rest of the cast. Imogen West-Knights played the rather thankless role of Mrs Debenham with great aplomb and conviction. Aleksander Cvetkovic, as the father of the deceased, elicits our sympathy with his gentle and good-natured portrayal of Sir Johnstone Kentley. Constance Greenfield and Alex Stutt introduce some well needed comic relief as the charming-but-dim Leila Arden and Kenneth Raglan. Jared Fortune’s Rupert Cadell became better and better as the performance progressed. Though he didn’t always react, in the background, to important overheard exchanges, his final speech is the highlight of the play. This speech brings back all the tension and urgency that is lacking in the middle of the performance.
Rope is well produced, well designed, well directed and well acted. However, it lacks the drama that would have made it a truly outstanding show.
