Dial M for Murder

The cotswold players

Dial M for Murder                Cotswold Playhouse, Stroud                June 26th 2019

Director: Tim Howard

This thriller written in the 1950’s by English playwright Frederick Knott, is not a ‘who dunnit’, we know from the title it involves murder and from near the beginning of the play who the intended victim and murderer are, and the motive for the murder; it is how the story unravels that maintains the suspense.

The play requires a box set of the sitting room of a London garden flat, with a front door, with coat hooks near to it, bedroom door, French windows into the garden, access to a kitchen and a fireplace.  This had been well constructed and was furnished with a desk and chair, sofa and some chairs, a drinks table, a coffee table, a radio, a fireplace and some lamps.  The set had been well dressed with telephone, tennis trophies and the all important needlework box.

The lighting plot for this play is complex and requires precision operating for it to work, as there are several lights in the room, which are switched on and off.  A light in the bedroom, which when switched on has to fall in an exact way as described by one of the characters.  The firelight was effective particularly when the room was in darkness, and you saw the lights from the Hall shining underneath the front door.  The sound effects were well cued.  The costumes all fitted well and were of the era, with lovely dresses for Sheila.

There is only one female character in this play Sheila Wendice, who was portrayed with total conviction by Carlotta Lucking.  She had all the grace, elegance and fragility of a 50’s heroine.  David Kilmister played Max Halliday, a successful crime fiction writer, who has just returned from America, and with whom Sheila previously had an affair, sympathetically.  He showed the confidence of a successful writer, was accepting of the friendship offered by Sheila’s husband, whilst giving discreet comfort and support to Sheila.  Tristan Holland was every inch the sophisticated, calculating, cold-blooded Tony Wendice, husband of Sheila.  Ben Wardle gave a convincing performance of Captain Lesgate/Mr Swann, a small time criminal, who Tony coerces into agreeing to murder his wife.  There were some lovely ‘Columbo’ moments from Peter Cluer as Inspector Hubbard, when you think he has finished his questioning he suddenly makes a new attack.

This play is very much of the era when radio announcers wore Dinner Jackets, and Director Tim Howard had decided that the play should be performed in that era.  He had directed his cast well and they conveyed the manners and lack of overt emotion beautifully. It was interesting to see the story unfolding, with the outcome never obvious, presented faithfully to its era.  I did enjoy the play and it was very well staged and performed, everyone had worked hard to make it an authentic production

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