Live Performance Review - Dial M for Murder

Images courtesy of Sassy Red PR.

A modern take on an excellent script, the Smoke and Mirrors Productions presentation of Dial M for Murder was not to be missed.

When presenting a play that has already earned its stripes, there can be a tendency to play it safe. This could have easily been the case with this production of Dial M for Murder, being a story that is already well known not only as a play, but also through the Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. Instead, director Dean Drieberg takes a creative swing, and it pays off mightily. By having the play move forward through time - each act being set in a different decade - Drieburg draws out the themes of domestic violence and abuse, and highlights that they are issues still plaguing us to this day—not something relegated to the play’s contemporaneous setting of the 1950s. 

The play tells the story of an attempted murder. Tyrie Aspinall shines as the deliciously maniacal Tony Wendice, a man who meticulously plans to have his wife killed after discovering her affair. When this plan goes awry, lies and tension spin higher and higher. Throughout the piece, the audience is kept on the edge of their seat, wondering if our hopelessly romantic American hero—and Margot Wendice’s (Bridget Bourke) partner in her affair—Max Halliday (Leon Walshe), will be able to discover the mystery in time. Instead of following the tried and true formula of a mystery story, where the audience uncovers the secrets alongside the detective, Frederick Knott’s airtight script takes a different tact: the audience is privy to the entire murder plan before it takes place.

It’s understandable why Hitchcock wanted to adapt this story to film, as it really proves his adage: “have a bomb explode, and the audience gets a second of surprise; show them a bomb counting down, and you have hours of suspense”. 

Not only is the original script a tour de force in script writing, Drieburg has added some additional flourishes that enhance the story further. Each act begins with a tableau in which the three male performers dress and pose Margot. Each one of these ends rather menacingly with Tony pushing her lips up into a smile. Again a line is drawn back to domestic abuse:Margot is trapped in this loveless relationship where her partner wishes her dead, and she cannot be with Max despite their obvious feelings for each other. Instead she is reduced to a doll posed into the position of the loving house wife. These themes are clear in the original script, but by including these tableaus Drieburg works to underline them. A choice worth making as this more stable political messaging could be easily lost in the thrill and suspense of the mystery. 

Drieburg even gives the last word of the play to this point, ending on the spot-lit smiling face of Tony. Again Aspinall excels as (despite Tony being cornered and banged to rights by the police) the audience is left to wonder whether he will get away, because the sexism of the world we live in might still work in his favour. 

Overall, this production of Dial M for Murder served both fans of the original and people new to the play alike. The already superb script stands strong and this new production works well to bring to light some of the underlying themes.

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Dial M For Murder ran from the 7th to the 16th of August at Theatre Works. For more info, click here.