Dial M for Murder

I attended this performance of Frederick Knott’s classic on the opening night, a plot laced with revenge, violence, deception and guilt. I was impressed by the end of the evening for many reasons.

The play opened with Sheila Wendice (Rachel Holmes) entertaining her friend, Max Halliday (Dave Mills). He is a murder mystery author, with whom Sheila has been having an affair. Sheila confesses to Max that she was being blackmailed over a stolen letter with some solacious information in it and is worried about who has the letter and what exactly he or she will do with it in the future. Little does she know that her quite callous, retired, professional tennis player husband, Tony (Sam Evans) is suspicious of his unfaithful wife, knows about the letter and has hired Captain Lesgate (Noel Redfern) for nefarious purposes regarding that letter. Tony comes up with a plot to commit, what he regards as, the perfect murder scheme, a fool proof plan to kill his wife and inherit her wealth, without having to go through with the grisly deed himself. His elaborate scheme involves a latch key, so he has a cast iron alibi. Inevitably, his plan goes wrong and Inspector Hubbard (Dale Roberts), arrives to uncover the truth of what really happened.

The unique set, a ground floor London flat, designed by the director, Rebecca Holmes-Meers was well constructed, creating the sort of upper middle-class home you might expect in the 1950’s, well-furnished, including a desk, a telephone,  four entrance and exit doors and a flickering ’fire,’ giving a homely effect. Props were authentic, with just one minor exception, the torch, used by the inspector was not typical of the 1950s. Scene changes were minimal, accompanied by instrumental music, which suggested a sense of menace, which set the mood and tension at key moments. Colin Mears’ sound design was consistently accurate, including some quietly subtle background bird song from the garden!

The lighting by Stan Vigurs, punctuated scenes and helped to convey the mood.

Directed by Rebecca Holmes-Mears, the play had a gradual build of suspense, as information from the four key characters was disclosed at a deliberate pace with interactions without hesitation and so natural. The script was very wordy but so naturally delivered by this fine group of self-assured and confident actors. The unprompted dominance of the actors’ lines was very impressive. There were no weak links in their characterisations, and I heard every word that each performer spoke. The full engagement of the audience was sustained for the entire length of the play.

Sam Evans’ portrayal of Tony Wendice was animated and flamboyant. His charm and his smile presented his character as being cool and at ease, but his subtle reactions and dark thoughts, were reflected in his voice and body language, showed how controlling he could be. Sam commanded the stage during this performance, a convincing actor.

Rachel Holmes captured the vulnerability beautifully in the role as Sheila, a talented actress with soft tones in her voice and fine diction. Rachel was able to demonstrate well emotions in tense scenes, showing her bewilderment when she didn’t know who to trust, and exercise fluidly, physical drama in the fight scene, the attempt on her character’s life; so well-choreographed. Dave Mills was strong in the part of Max, the budding crime writer, and showed his character to have a sharp mind when it came to discussing murder. Noel Redfern delivered his character, the reluctant assassin, Captain Lesgate with conviction. He seemed to succumb to the dangerous influence and persuasion that Tony Wendice held over him without too much resistance. The role of Inspector Hubbard was adopted by Dale Roberts. He was amazing and so appropriately cast. His mannerisms, his patient stance and facial expressions showed the audience that he knew there was something wrong with Tony’s account of what happened, and he was calculating what really happened. He wasn’t brusque in any way but consistent in being kind and gentle whilst investigating the serious twists and turns of the play. Credit too, to supporting actors, Ian Askew who played Detective Thompson and Charlotte Askew, who was WPC Foley.

Huge congratulations to all the cast and crew for giving the audience an immersive experience. Thanks too for Rebecca Holmes-Mears hard work by creating a piece of classic theatre performed by a strong cast, who brought energy and drive to this murder mystery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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