Dial M For Murder - Review - People's Theatre

Dial M For Murder
People's Theatre
21st Jan 2020

To launch the new season the People's Theatre have swapped their usual post Christmas Agatha Christie for the equally suspenseful Dial M For Murder by Frederick Knott.
Tony Wendice married his wife Margot for her money. Margot, having belatedly discovered that marriage to a tennis superstar is not all she had dreamed it would be, has an affair with crime writer Max. When Tony discovers the affair he plots the perfect murder - gaining his freedom from a loveless marriage but keeping Margot's money.

In Frederick Knott's play the audience are in on the plot almost from the start. We learn straight away about the short-lived affair. And we know that Margot believes her husband knows nothing about it. We learn that she has gone to great pains to ensure that he did not find out - even so far as paying money to a blackmailer. But so many things don't seem to add up. Is everything quite as the audience is being led to believe - or is there more to this tale? Tony Wendice is a man used to having his own way. And he is a man used to paying whatever it takes for something he wants. He is single-minded, dangerous, calculating, and observant - perhaps obsessively so.

This suspense is played out entirely in the living room of the Wendice's ground floor flat in London. A simple set - sofa, desk, drinks cabinet...three doors - one to the bedroom and kitchen, one to the hall and stairs, and French windows to the garden. all three doors will play an important roll in the development of the plot. The lighting is sinister and dramatic and used to great effect with blood red backlighting from the hall casts shadows across as characters enter and leave the flat. Adding to the atmosphere is the quietly malevolent score, specially commissioned, by James Jones.

The characters are all very different, Alison Carr plays Margot, the dutiful wife who is clearly intimidated by her husband, yet we see a lighter, more carefree side to her character when she is with Max. Sean Burnside is chilling in the role of Tony Wendice, switching from affable host to scheming murderer in the flick of a red spotlight switch. Robbie Close is the cheerful, but lovelorn Max Halliday, who appears easy going but has the presence of mind to see through Tony and is loyal to Margot to the end. I couldn't help but feel she didn't quite deserve him!
Tony Sehgal plays Lesgate (or Swan, or is it Wilson?), the hapless opportunist ex-con, who falls victim - in more ways than one - to Wendice's plotting. And finally there is Inspector Hubbard. The down to earth detective who unravels the mystery. Brilliantly cast in the role, Emma Weetch bring a touch of humour like a breath of fresh air, puncturing the tension -  imagine a female Columbo, with more style and a London accent and you just about have her. As much as the music and lighting created the atmosphere and ramped up the suspense, she burst it and brought us back down to earth. She was the star of the show for me.

Dial M for Murder is a well directed, well staged production and a great start to the Spring season!
It plays until Saturday 25th January.

Denise Sparrowhawk