"Tape" by Vertigo Theater at the Hive Collaborative

New theater company Vertigo Theater makes an impressive debut with the one-act three-hander Tape, playing a The Hive Collaborative for a short two-week run. Most of the artists involved are recent graduates of the Guthrie / U of MN BFA program, several of whom were part of the 2025 graduating class's fantastic production of Jez Butterworth's epic play The Ferryman. I'd never seen or heard of Tape (although it was adapted into a film in 2001 starring then-married Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, along with Robert Sean Leanard), and it's super intense. It's basically one long scene, mostly between two characters, with the late introduction of a third. It's the kind of play that feels like an acting exercise, with really complex and very real characters, and these three actors excel at the exercise. It's a taut and gripping 60 minutes that'll leave you with more questions than answers. Tape has four more performances at the Hive; it's a great chance to see some talented young artists who you will very likely be seeing more of in the future, and take in this intense and engrossing play.

"Rope" at Gremlin Theatre

The 1929 play Rope, which was adapted into a 1948 film by Alfred Hitchcock, is now receiving fine treatment on the Gremlin Theatre stage. Written by English playwright Patrick Hamilton (who also wrote Gas Light, which was also adapted into a film, and later become a term for psychological manipulation), it was inspired by the real life case of two college students who murdered a child in 1920s Chicago as an intellectual pursuit. In this version of the story, two university students murder a fellow student, put his body in a chest, and then hold a dinner party with food served on top of the chest, just to prove they could get away with murder. It's sickening really, but also makes for a riveting and suspenseful tale, because - spoiler alert - they don't get away with it. Watching their carefully plotted plan unravel like so much frayed rope is a thrill. A fantastic cast and spot on design chillingly bring this story to life. See it at Gremlin Theatre in Vandalia Tower in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood now through August 4.