If World War II had not intervened, Frederick Knott might not have written a play like Dial M for Murder. Before the war, Knott, a talented tennis player at Cambridge, had set his sights on Wimbledon. However, after serving in Britain’s Royal Artillery during the war, he saw writing mainly for the purpose of making money. He also wondered if it was ever possible to commit the perfect crime.
In one interview, he said, “I was always intrigued with the idea that somebody would plan a crime, and then you see that everything doesn’t turn out right. You can plan a murder in great detail and then put the plan into action and invariably something goes wrong and then you have to improvise, and in the improvisation you trip up and make a very big mistake.” This became the premise for his most successful play, one of only three that he wrote.
After at least seven rejections, Dial M for Murder was picked up for a 1952 BBC television production and two years later became a box office hit with its cinematic version directed by Alfred Hitchcock. There have been numerous adaptations of the original but a 2022 version by Jeffrey Hatcher, authorized by the Knott estate, adds a few significant twists while keeping the integrity of the narrative and the original 1950s setting in London. Already, Hatcher’s version has become popular for how it melds midcentury elements with enlightened 21st century social dynamics.
Winning the case for Hatcher’s intellectually precise Dial M for Murder adaptation is Pioneer Theatre Company’s magnificent Utah premiere production, with outstanding performances by all five actors. A co-production with Arizona Theatre Company, Dial M for Murder, directed by Michael John Garcés, is riveting entertainment, as the rhythm of the stage action percolates in perfect chemistry and the stage essence has the vibe of classic noir crime.
Well-known for his facility with mysteries and thrillers, Hatcher, who was nominated for an Edgar Award by Mystery Writers of America, proves why Dial M for Murder has always excelled as a theatrical drama. The exposition in Hatcher’s version is taut and even crisper than Knott’s original but his most consequential changes occur in the characters of the love triangle and in the main character’s profession. Knott originally cast Tom Wendice as a retired tennis pro but Hatcher has him cast as a publisher. Wendice plans to murder his wealthy wife, Margot, who is having an affair. In the original, her love interest is Mark Halliday, an American crime novelist. However, in his character gender switch, Hatcher makes it instead a same-sex affair with Maxine Hadley, who also is an American crime fiction writer.
The narrative stakes of tension are multiplied, in both professional and personal considerations. These changes also fit into 1950s London, in the midst of the Lavender Scare, when gays and lesbians feared their lives would be destroyed by unsubstantiated claims that they made for easy comprisable targets by Cold War enemies. Hatcher gives Knott’s original storyline a well-deserved timeless feel.
The acting across the board is gobsmackingly good. As Wendice, Dan Domingues is properly chilling and silky smooth, reminding us that he does not embody the conventional trope of a remorseless individual capable of murder. Awesta Zarif is elucidating as Margot, sharpening our perceptions about how her narrative journey time after time in Dial M for Murder is a relentless string of mistreatments. Along with the gender change in her extramarital love interest, Margot discovers that the reality she thought to perceive was anything but that. Her truth and mind are manipulated to the fullest extent possible. Hatcher does fine work in alerting us to our contemporary concerns about moral ambiguities and the elusive, slippery search for truth and factual verification. Snap judgments are costly, to the extreme.
Likewise, Lucy Lavely as Maxine is remarkable, presenting a confident, incisive and formidable challenge not only to Tony but to Margot as well. Lavely has some of the finest moments of dramatic tension in the story, especially when she attempts to overshadow Margot’s voice in the ongoing investigation while sorting out her own narrative without facing any challenges. Aaron Cammack makes for a fine small-time criminal as Lesgate, whom Margot murders in self-defense.Finally, Peter Howard nearly steals the show in several moments, as Inspector Hubbard. With fine ironical sense, Howard strikes the right pitch in his dry and sardonic mannerisms.
Pioneer Theatre Company’s Dial M for Murder is a faultlessly crafted production, a generous theatrical divertissement to start the new year. Performances continue through Jan. 25. For tickets and more information, see the PTC website.