The classic thriller, Dial M for Murder, has touched stages around the world, but Theatre Calgary’s production, composed of a female-dominated crew, uses a turning set design that adapts Hitchcock’s cinematic suspense to the theatre.
Dial M for Murder, a period piece set in the 1950s, tells the story of Tony Wendice (Tyrell Crews), a failed writer planning to kill his wife, Margot (Emily Dallas), for revenge and money.
The play was first adapted by playwright Frederick Knott, but this rendition by Jeffrey Hatcher brings a new modern edge and relevance.
“He has a real penchant for doing these fantastic adaptations that are not straight adaptations,” said assistant director Anna Cummer. “He finds something… a thread in the original that he can pull on and bring into the present day.”
A novel approach
Theatre Calgary’s production brings a unique spin with director Jillian Kiley. She and her crew introduce a new technical element to the design that elevates the suspense and thrill of the story, which Hitchcock’s film originally created through angles and close-ups.
Kiley strives to mimic this effect for the audience with the use of a revolving set.
“It’s really quite effective because it’s moving so slowly you can’t perceive it until it’s quite a distance,” said Cummer. “And then you have this moment as an audience going, ‘Did it just move? Wait a minute.’”
She explains the revolving set was essential in guiding the audience’s eyes and helping the small details stand out in the story. The minor details highlighted by the set design, sound, and lighting create a cinematic, edge-of-your-seat kind of storytelling as the thriller unfolds.
“It’s quite wonderful because there are moments that are really, really important that, had this stayed still, would have happened upstage and nobody would have seen them,” said Cummer.
“But because we have the ability to move it, we can move these important moments downstage so that the audience has a shared moment with a character that the other characters don’t necessarily see.”
Behind the scenes, the difficulty was creating and incorporating this element on stage. Cummer said Kiley’s vision with the design was to “mimic the mobility of a camera lens” and her crew played an essential role in helping deliver this.
“Jill surrounded herself with this incredible team of women, I will add, who were there to help her with the detail work so that then she could keep her overall focus on the greater design,” said Cummer.
The play exhibits a more modern take on the original, both on-stage and backstage. Hatcher’s adaptation uses a lesbian affair instead of a heterosexual one, adding layers to the storyline through representation, which Kiley and the cast prioritized.
“It makes the person who actually unravels most of the crime, a woman, a female-identifying character,” Cummer said. “That kind of representation is incredibly important.”
It wasn’t just the production taking a step forward through the design and storyline, but Kiley’s intent to put women first behind the curtain as well.
“Our stage management team is entirely female,” said Cummer. “I think it’s so great and encouraging to see women in a variety of different roles that previously we wouldn’t have been in.”
Theatre Calgary’s Dial M for Murder ran from Sept. 30 to Oct. 26 on the Max Bell Stage. Their next production will be A Christmas Carol, which will run from Nov. 28 to Dec. 31.