Scripted Social Liverpool - October (Rope by Patrick Hamilton)

Scripted Social are back at Make North Docks on Saturday 31 October, this time working through Rope by Patrick Hamilton. It's part of their Play Exploration Group, which is a bit different from your usual night at the theatre. Instead of a polished production, the group reads a play together and then works through the scenes in a relaxed, loose rehearsal setting. There's no acting experience required, and it's open to over-18s only, so it's as much about the process of getting into the text as it is about the performance.

Rope is a proper tension-builder. It follows two flatmates who murder their friend, convinced of their own intellectual superiority, and then throw a cocktail party while serving food from the trunk where they've hidden the body. As the guests arrive, the suspicion starts to mount, and the whole thing tightens around them. It's the kind of play that works well in a rehearsal room, where you can take your time with the dialogue and let the dread build.

The session is led by facilitator and director Phoebe McSweeney, who guides the group through the scenes. Because it's a rehearsal rather than a formal production, the focus stays on the reading and the exploration of the play itself, rather than on costumes, sets, or a final curtain call. It's a good way to get inside a play without the pressure of a stage.

It runs from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, with doors opening at 9:45 am, so you'll be in and out by mid-afternoon. Tickets are £25, and the session takes place at Make North Docks, 34 Regent Street, Liverpool L3 7BN.