‘Dial M For Murder’

The Villagers stages Frederick Knott’s mystery play.

By: Stuart Duncan
   It should tell you something about modern culture that if you attempt to locate the late Frederick Knott’s brilliant mystery play Dial M For Murder on the Web, all you will find are references (dozens and dozens of them) to the 1954 movie that Alfred Hitchcock made starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly.
   You will learn that Hitchcock didn’t really want to direct the film — apparently he was already underway with plans to film Rope, a work that incidentally also used only a single setting. But the studio ordered him to do Knott’s play, and in those days one followed studio orders. The single set became the living room of an elegant London apartment.
   As for playwright Knott, he wrote only three plays throughout his lifetime (mostly spent in Lawrenceville). The first was Dial M For Murder, seen first on British telly and then in 1952 on Broadway. His second, Wait Until Dark, was five years later and also a huge success. The third, Write Me a Murder, was comparatively weaker, ran for only 25 weeks and mostly has been forgotten.
   It is the first of these that The Villagers is reviving in a superb production as the group closes in on its 50th anniversary. Director J.C. Gibriano lets the audience know, by way of a program note, that he and his crew have had a glorious time assembling the show. And it shows. A terrific cast climbs elegantly into and out of Knott’s delicious intrigues. Sara Kuhns and Brendan Scullin play Margot and Tony Wendice, the British couple dedicated to strangling each other mentally and figuratively. The pair is married in real life (if that makes a difference). Kris Longwell plays Max Halliday, the American "other man" with a long-standing lust for Margot.
   After a tense exposition and an attempted murder gone awry, the play falls solidly into the arms of Inspector Hubbard of the British constabulary. Greg Louis handles the role with exquisite delicacy, finding moments of wry humor as well as brutal honesty. He quite steals the evening. Fred Halperin is properly suspicious as the dupe chosen to carry out the nefarious scheme.
   Astonishing that even after a half century, Knott’s intrigues still excite and the twists and turns in the plot still satisfy. The result is a very rewarding evening of a first-class play.
Dial M For Murder continues at The Villagers Theatre, 415 DeMott Lane, Somerset, through Sept. 24. Performances: Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Tickets cost $16. For information, call (732) 873-2710. On the Web: www.villagerstheatre.com