A husband who married for money hires a con man in 1950s London to murder his unfaithful wife so he can inherit her fortune. What could go wrong?
Just about everything in Penobscot Theatre Company’s thrilling production of “Dial M for Murder” at the Bangor Opera House. The plot takes twists and turns like a 21st century roller coaster and Saturday’s opening night audience truly enjoyed the exciting ride.
Frederick Knott initially wrote “Dial M for Murder” as an early BBC television play. It moved to the London stage in 1952. Two years later, Knott adapted the script for the Alfred Hitchcock film starring Grace Kelly, Ray Milland and Robert Cummings. Twenty years after Knott’s death in 2002 at the age of 86, his estate allowed playwright Jeffrey Hatcher to update the script.
Hatcher’s adaptation of “Dial M for Murder” has been very popular with regional theaters across the country. Penobscot Theatre is one of 10 companies producing the show during their 2024-25 season, making it the eighth most popular non-Shakespeare script, according to American Theatre magazine.
The biggest changes Hatcher made to Knott’s script were to make Margot Wendice’s lover a woman instead of a man, to turn her deadly husband Tony Wendice from a retired tennis pro to a failed novelist, and to increase the price of murder from 50 to 5,000 pounds. How the botched killing is solved was not tampered with, nor is the setting.
Director Rebecca Bradshaw, the producing artistic director at Gloucester Stage in Massachusetts, slowly builds the tension in Act One to the riveting attempted murder. A cat-and-mouse game among the surviving characters and the inspector working to get to the truth keeps theatergoers on the edge of their seats. This is Bradshaw’s first production in Maine but most likely won’t be her last given her tremendous skills at pacing this production.
Margot (Bri Houtman) and her lover, mystery writer Maxine Hadley (Rebekah Novak), beautifully capture the fear of being open about their relationship at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain, the U.S. and most other countries. But their relationship has little sexual spark and they seem to be more devoted friends rather than lovers.
Both actresses nicely capture the societal constraints women dealt with in the 1950s, although Maxine is allowed to be a bit bolder than Margot in her sexuality. Houtman is especially good at portraying her character’s confusion over how she got caught up in a murder mystery.
Ira Kramer, in his first non-musical role at Penobscot Theatre, portrays the charming but deadly Tony. He easily moves from loving husband to blackmailer to scheming lothario with an occasional wink and nod to the audience. Kramer is having as much fun in this role as he did two years ago in “Trapped the Musical.”
Kenneth Stack, best known for his 27 turns as Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol,” returns to the Opera House stage as Inspector Hubbard. Stack, who spent decades directing and starring in murder mysteries at Acadia Repertory Company in Somesville, is perfect in the role. He is the quintessential BritBox detective interested only in the facts and how they can be manipulated.
As the would-be killer who winds up dead, Brad LaBree makes the most of his small role as Captain Lesgate, squirming uncomfortably as Tony peels back the many layers of his life as a con man.
The technical crew on this show worked together beautifully to set it firmly in the 1950s. Chez Cherry’s set, Michelle Handley’s costumes, Madeleine Reid’s lighting design, Julian Crocamo’s sound work and Thomas Demers’ props bring the stultifying atmosphere of the era vividly to life.
Murder mysteries always have been a welcome distraction from the doldrums of Maine winters. “Dial M for Murder” is the perfect way to bask in the heat of the search for a cold-blooded killer in the warmth of the Bangor Opera House.
