Patrick Hamilton's Rope is a dark comic thriller inspired by true crime. Directed by Theatr Clwyd’s Associate Director, Francesca Goodridge (A Pretty Shitty Love), we sat down with her to find out more.

How would you describe this show to a friend?

Written a century before today's obsession with true crime podcasts, Rope remains a heart-stopping thriller - with no let-up for episode breaks. The play takes audiences on a wild night of suspense and surprise, with a relentless focus on one space, one crime, and a brazen cover-up by men drunk on their own supposed superiority. Whether we are rooting for justice or for an outrageous getaway, audiences will stay on the edge of their seats until the final curtain. (With a few excellent laughs along the way!)

Where do you start when directing a play?

I’ve always been a very visual person so I work best with images or artwork that inspires an aesthetic for the play I’d like to make. I usually put together a visual mood board for each scene, images, artwork-anything that make me feel a certain way and encompasses how I’d like to make the audience feel in those moments.

I also tend to do a ‘beats list’ I’ll read the script over and over again and pick out moments that continue to stand out as important, dramatic beats and start from there.

With this play, I’ve done something I’ve never done before- I’ve ordered and read everything Patrick Hamilton had ever written, his novels, his plays and then his autobiography – so I can really get into the mind of the playwright and see what kind of world he lived in, what his circumstances were and why he might have written the characters and story they way that he did.

Why is this story important to tell now?

Two powerful men carry out an unforgivable act of violence, then use all the force of their privilege and confidence to cover it up. The brashly confident man who blusters his way out of trouble is a recurring protagonist in today’s culture. This production of ROPE will put him under the microscope and make him sweat, and question deeply ingrained habits of class and gender along the way.

What advice would you give to people who want to get into directing?

Read plays. Read any play you can. Watch all kinds of theatre, dance, comedy. Find out who’s work you like, what stories resonate with you. I’m always learning new ways of working and new exciting styles of theatre- it’s an ongoing journey that I don’t think I’ll ever complete, but the fun is that it’s always changing and expanding and teaching me new ways to tell stories.

Recently at Theatr Clwyd you have directed the panto Sleeping Beauty, Truth or Dare and A Pretty Shitty Love and now Rope. All these show are so different – do you have a favourite type of show to work on? And do you approach shows differently?

I would say I approach every show differently. Each show will require something new of me. A lot of my work has been in new writing, and so I’m used to ever changing scripts! However, with Rope, the text is there already- tried and tested, and now I get the awesome job of getting to inject myself into it and make it my own.

I’ve always been drawn to theatre that really takes over all of your senses, with music and movement, and I’m really excited at the prospect of making Rope a total theatre experience!

To find out more or to book Rope, click here.