For the second year in a row, Hartford Stage has opened a season with a classic murder mystery adapted by contemporary playwright. But this year it turned out to be a rather different project.

Last year’s “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” had a psychosocial edge, flashy special effects and a constant sense of menace which rendered the show largely humorless. “Rope,” which runs through Nov. 2, has no big effects outside of loud antique telephones and a torrential windstorm, mutes its biggest psychological moments and is generally played for laughs

“Rope” has a lot more in common with Hartford Stage’s 2022-23 season opener, “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie, which involved neither “Rope” playwright Jeffrey Hatcher or theater’s artistic director Melia Bensussen. Like “Rope,” “The Mousetrap” ha

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