Is it possible to commit the “perfect crime?”

Bag&Baggage Productions will examine this question with its presentation of the classic thriller “Rope,” playing through October at The Venetian Theatre in downtown Hillsboro.

Written in 1929, playwright Patrick Hamilton denied that his inspiration for “Rope” was the thrill killing committed by Leopold and Loeb in 1924. “Rope” tells a strikingly similar story of two young men who conspire to murder a fellow student “for the fun of the thing” and then invite their victim’s friends and family to a dinner party where they serve cocktails and hors d’oeuvres off a trunk containing their victim’s body.

With its story of deception, arrogance, violence and guilt, “Rope” caught the attention of Hollywood heavyweight Alfred Hitchcock, who produced and directed a film version of the play in 1948, starring James Stewart and Farley Granger.

“It isn’t just the Hitchcock film that encouraged us to take ‘Rope’ on,” Scott Palmer, Bag&Baggage’s Artistic Director said in a news release. “‘Rope’ truly is one of the great works of the murder mystery genre and has been an inspiration to generations of writers, directors and filmmakers for nearly a century.”

“Rope” is the second terror-noir production presented by Bag&Baggage to celebrate Halloween, following on from last year’s “Dial ‘M’ For Murder.”

Guest director Rusty Tennant is tackling directing duties for the production. Tennant recently directed “Romeo and Juliet” at Pacific University in Forest Grove.

“I am fascinated by so many aspects of this play,” Tennant said in a news release. “Hamilton’s use of time, the looming grandfather clock ticking down the seconds like some kind of time-bomb, the constant heightened tension, and the fact that the audience knows who committed the murder from the very first moment; all of these things combine to create a truly powerful and haunting night of suspense.”

The production stars Trevor Jackson (recently seen as the Prince of York in Bag&Baggage’s “Richard III”) as Brandon and Nathan Dunking (last seen with Bag&Baggage as Slim in “Of Mice and Men”) as Granillo, the two masterminds of the so-called perfect crime. Michael Tuefel portrays Rupert Cadell (the role played by Jimmy Stewart in the Hitchcock film).

Performances are Oct. 8-Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, at the Venetian Theatre, 253 E. Main St., in Hillsboro.

Tickets are $18-$30 and may be purchased by calling 503-345-9590 or visiting theBag&Baggage website.

–Ken Centers

kcenters@oregonian.com

503-294-4034

@KenFGLeader