Dial M for Murder at PTC

I love the movie Dial M for Murder (I'm a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock) so I was really excited to see a new adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher at PTC last night. This version is still set in the 1950s but there is an update that intensifies the motivations of the characters and I found the whole production to be incredibly compelling. Tony Wendice (Dan Domingues) blackmails his old college friend Lesgate (Aaron Cammack) into killing his wife Margot (Awesta Zarif) for her money after he discovers that she is having an affair with a crime writer named Maxine Hadley (Lucy Lavely). However, all of his elaborate plans go awry when Margot kills Lesgate instead and he must improvise to make Margot culpable for the murder. Will Margot, Maxine, and Inspector Hubbard (Peter Howard) be able to expose Tony as the mastermind before it is too late? This is an incredibly intense psychological thriller because it is not so much about "whodunnit" but about how the plot will be unraveled. Every aspect of the production adds to the tension and I especially loved the set, which features a well appointed living room surrounded by discolored mirrors that distort the contents within and a murky scrim through which you can see the all-important staircase on the other side of the door, and the dramatic lighting, which uses light and shadow to great effect (especially in the scene where Tony is compelling Lesgate to do his bidding because Tony's shadow looms over Lesgate and it is so ominous). I was also impressed with the sound design because hearing Maxine's interview on the radio during the attack sequence creates a sense of unease that is palpable. The pacing is absolutely brilliant because, despite the heavy reliance on dialogue, my attention never wavered as more and more secrets are slowly revealed (the audience gasped out loud during a particularly heated scene). The cast is uniformly exceptional and it is difficult to single anyone out but I had a lot of fun watching Dominigues subtly manipulate everyone around him with a smirk on his face (he is such a cad) and Howard bumble around with an overwrought delivery (he is the source of much comic relief) until he reveals himself to be Tony's equal in manipulation. Finally, I think having Margot's lover be a woman (the biggest change from the original play by Frederick Knott) really ups the stakes for her and provides a more persuasive motive for the lengths she goes to hide the affair. I thoroughly enjoyed this and, if you are a fan of suspense, I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs at PTC through January 25.