Act Reviews 2024 / 2025 Season

Dial ‘M’ for Murder by Frederick Knott Directed by Geoff Gibson HATS Theatre Group After the success of the original production Alfred Hitchcock made a very successful film of the play. The plot follows a murder in which the perpetrator thinks he has perfected the perfect crime. ACT 1 is very much scene setting while Act 2 is all about catching out the murderer. Theatre audiences do enjoy a “whodunit”, working out their main suspect as the characters are introduced. All the action takes place in a very upmarket Maida-Vale flat, unfortunately the boxset which was appropriate was lacking in the finer details. The important clue is the missing front door key but there wasn’t the back of the lock on the door. The costumes were, in the main, appropriate but did not always represent the status of the characters. The lighting plot added tension to the drama to give an edge to the thriller. Direction was clean and unfussy allowing the script to flow. The play is long and wordy therefore the pace had to be tight to keep the audience focused. None of the audience lost focus - they all wanted to see the murderer found out. The casting was good and well balanced; the ensemble playing shone through. Ex tennis player, Tony Wendice, married Margot for her money. Niven Ganner established a very cold calculating husband planning to murder his wife. The philandering wife, Margot Wendice, was smart and sophisticated. Vicki O’Hare convincingly portrayed the character capturing the femininity of the era. Her lover, crime writer Max Halliday, played by

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODU3MzQ=