Elise Poehling and Hillary Clemens in Dial M for Murder (Brian Paulette)
Many likely think of Dial M for Murder as one of the quintessential murder mysteries. But according to the parameters of the genre laid out in the play itself, this classic is not a murder mystery at all, but a thriller. A murder mystery presents its audience with a body and the question of who killed the victim. A thriller, on the other hand, tells us who the killer (or would-be killer) is but leaves us with a host of other questions—how the crime will play out, how the characters got to this point and, the biggest question of all, will they get away with it?
In 2022, Jeffrey Hatcher issued a new adaptation of Frederick Knott’s 1952 play Dial M for Murder. (Knott also wrote the screenplay for the Alfred Hitchcock film two years later.) Hatcher’s version, currently onstage at Kansas City Actors Theatre, keeps the period setting intact but manages to make the play feel modern. Two notable changes to the characters also heighten the stakes in an already nail-biting dynamic.
Tony (Darren Kennedy) is a failed writer who has decided to kill his wife, Margot (Elise Poehling), after discovering she’d had an affair with her friend Maxine (Hillary Clemens), a thriller novelist. It’s not jealousy that drives Tony to murder, though. It’s just her money. The play involves a satisfying number of twists and turns, along with some staples of the genre, including a shady character from Tony’s past (Bradley J. Thomas) hired to commit the murder and an adroit detective (Jen Mays) keeping her cards close to her vest.
In the original play, Tony is a retired tennis pro. Hatcher’s change to his profession adds a layer of seething resentment, made even worse by the fact that Tony works for Maxine’s publisher. Changing the gender of Margot’s former lover also makes the situation intensely more intriguing, as well as dangerous. The play never directly addresses the risks inherent in a secret same-sex relationship in the 1950s, but we can feel the palpable danger when Margot reveals she’s been blackmailed (by her husband, not that she knows that).
Dial M for Murder is not a challenging play but it’s a fun one. The characters are kept fairly surface-level, and while there’s room to mine some complexities in each, they never dip into caricature and strong performances across the board bolster Hatcher’s brisk script and keep things bouncing along pleasantly. Kelli Harrod’s single set is a smart 1950s flat and Matt Snellgrove keeps things sleek and simple with the costuming. Zan de Spelder’s lighting casts long shadows and while the effect is dramatically noirish, the trade-off means the actors are left in the literal dark for substantial stretches.
KCAT’s Dial M for Murder is exceedingly entertaining. Under Katie Gilchrist’s direction, the skilled cast keeps Hatcher’s snappy patter moving briskly, maintaining a sense of levity amidst the darker subject matter. Fans of the period thriller genre especially are sure to be delighted.
“Dial M for Murder,” a production of Kansas City Actors Theatre, runs through September 29 at City Stage, on the lower level of Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd, Kansas City, MO. For more information, visit www.kcactors.org.
