Dial M for Murder

It almost felt like a mortal sin to be cooped up in the stuffy confines of the Grand Opera House's Baby Grand theatre on one of those rare warm, cloudless, spring evenings in Belfast.

Yet there I was with steak in my belly and wine in my hand for a new rendition of Frederick Knott's 1952 play Dial M for Murder, made famous of course by the excellent film adaptation from Alfred Hitchcock, from the delightfully eccentric Belfast based theatre group Wireless Mystery Theatre (WMT)

The single set story tells the tale of a devious murder plot hatched by one Tony Wendice, former tennis player turned salesman, on his wife Margot after discovering she had been having extra marital affairs with dashing crime writer Max Halliday.

Calm and collected Tony bides his time, picking the right man, telling the right story, having the perfect alibi so he can walk away from his loveless marriage free and stinking rich.

When all doesn't go according to plan Tony makes alterations and suddenly Margot finds herself going from innocent victim to a framed killer in an instant.

Now I can't speak for the play's faithfulness to Knott's original stage production, but having seen Hitchcock's version (coincidently also written by Knott) countless times in my life it felt very much that WMT took most of their cues from the latter version in dialogue, suspenseful music and aesthetics. They even managed to present it the way Hitchcock originally intended in 3D...

It's in the performances however where the production's real value lies. The standout star clearly being Mark Claney's portrayal of the dastardly Tony Wendice, which had the perfect balance of a devious, classic, Machiavellian villain combined with this rather sad, embittered, cumbersome man buried underneath the bravado.

As his wife Margot, the graceful (pun absolutely intended) Susan Davey channelled that fragile, endearingly pure, innocence often associated with many of Hitchcock's most memorable leading ladies marvellously and the chemistry she had with Claney carried over with little effort during her more tender moments with Xander Duffy's Max Halliday.

All three were great leads but truthfully I'd love a continuing spin off series of Geoff Hatt's thoughtful and inquisitive Inspector Hubbard, but being a man who doesn't frequent the theatre as often as he would like, I don't think that's quite how this works.

Some might argue WMT perhaps played it too faithful to the film's narrative. I'm not one of those people and frankly such tributes can be forgiven since it took place during the Belfast Film Festival.

It conjured happy memories for me of the excellent stage production of The Ladykillers I saw in the Grand Opera House three years earlier, and demonstrates perfectly how these excellent silver screen films can be brought to life and introduced to new audiences in unique ways.

Wireless Mystery Theatre has produced a slick, engaging, production of one of the great cinematic thrillers. Dial M for Murder was an excellent addition to the Film Festival programme, and very much worth sacrificing that calm cool beer garden for a night of great theatre.


Dial M for Murder was part of the 2015 Belfast Film Festival and ran from 21-25 April in the Grand Opera House's Baby Grand theatre.


Andrew Moore