“The crime of the century!”

So screamed headlines with relative frequency in the century immediately preceding this one. And if you measure impact by number of fictional adaptations, Chicago’s “Leopold and Loeb” case was certainly among the top handful.

In 1924, two prodigious Chicago teenagers who’d recently graduated from college — Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb — murdered a young neighbor in a test of Loeb’s theory that those of their intellectual level were immune to the average human’s issues of morality and conscience.

Five years after the murder, Patrick Hamilton’s play, “Rope,” premiered in London, built upon a Leopold-and-Loeb-like scenario, Alfred Hitchcock later adapting it into a film. “Compulsion” followed in 1959, based upon one of the multiple novels the case inspired.

Gremlin Theatre allows you to crack open the amber and see how the tale was spun in 1929 with a very impressive production, one propelled by intriguing characterizations and imaginative technical elements. It’s by no means a light summer murder mystery, but instead a grippingly tense battle of wits.

Jeffrey Nolan and Jeremy Bode in Gremlin Theatre’s production of “Rope,” a play about two college students who have committed a murder and host a dinner party in a room in which the corpse is hidden, which runs through Aug. 4, 2024 at the St. Paul theater. (Alyssa Kristine / Gremlin Theatre)

Director Peter Christian Hansen has cast mostly college-aged actors, all very talented and all save one adopting a naturalistic approach that makes you feel as if eavesdropping on a casual gathering of old friends.

But Hansen and technical director, set and lighting designer Carl Schoenborn make a fascinating choice that plunges the audience into the tension immediately: The production’s first 15 minutes are performed in virtual darkness, leaving only your ears to ascertain that a murder is being committed and the body locked in a chest.

When curtains are pulled back to reveal the London nightscape, the two young murderers, Brandon and Granillo, are processing what they’ve done and preparing to host a dinner party for five guests, among them the victim’s father, the food served atop the chest.

The production feels remarkably faithful to what London audiences might have experienced in 1929, traditional aristocratic manners feeling the tug of American influences suggested by the effervescent Mira Davis’ flapper dress (among the first-rate costumes of A. Emily Heaney). Sarah Bauer has filled the room with props that place us precisely in the period, while Aaron Newman’s sound design brings us some great vintage jazz and a daunting thunderstorm.

Coleson Eldredge is particularly compelling as Brandon, who clearly seems the brains behind the murder plot. Yes, he’s cocky, but also subtly vulnerable, and the cracks in his calm exterior are believably exposed. Jeremy Bode has the tougher task as Granillo, who’s barely holding himself together and seems to age before our eyes as the play progresses.

It took some time for me to warm to what Jeffrey Nolan does with Rupert, an older poet friend who seems from the get-go the most likely to expose their crime. In a room full of naturalism, his stagy, affected manner feels out of place for much of the first act before his guard is lowered a bit in an engaging second-act monologue.

While it’s an expertly executed production, you may wish that Hansen had found a way to accelerate or cut some of the play’s slower-moving sections, particularly in Rupert’s silent ruminations or a climactic standoff that grows repetitious. But it’s nevertheless the kind of excellent work we’ve come to expect from Gremlin, one of our great little Twin Cities theater companies.

‘Rope’

When: Through Aug. 4

Where: Gremlin Theatre, 550 Vandalia St., St. Paul

Tickets: $42-$19, available at gremlintheatre.org

Capsule: A well-executed drama of murder and hubris.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

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