Dial M for Murder at the Kings Theatre Edinburgh Review
Dial M for Murder
King’s Theatre, Edinburgh
18-22 February 2014
Reviewed by Caroline Murray
We went to go see the thriller play Dial M for Murder at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh. The play was written by Frederick Knott and was first broadcasted on the BBC in March 1952, then later that year it premiered on stage in Westminster Theatre before being made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1953. The current play is directed by Lucy Bailey and the tour runs until 28 June 2014, visiting various theatres throughout the UK.
We arrived early for the show as previous experience proved it can be difficult to get parked near the theatre. This can be one downside to the evening but on this occasion we managed to get parked just around the corner from the theatre. What a piece of luck!
The King’s Theatre itself is a beautiful venue with ornate architecture and is certainly befitting this type of play. As usual we found the staff very welcoming and helpful. They gave us our tickets, a programme and then showed us to our seats in the Grand Circle. The view of the stage was fantastic and we had plenty of room to get stretched out.
The curtain went up and the opening scene showed Sheila (played by Kelly Hotten) in her living room chatting to Max (played by Philip Cairns) about their past affair and how her husband Tony (played by Daniel Betts) had gave up his tennis career and had become the perfect husband (or so she thought).
If only so, however unknown to Sheila her husband Tony is convinced that she had in fact previously been having an affair. With this in mind he plots her perfect murder but as the audience watch on the plot falls apart but still goes in his favour, until the arrival of Inspector Hubbard (played by Christopher Timothy) who starts to investigate the case. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the play as Tony tries to cover up his indiscretions over the past year whilst he had been plotting the perfect murder or so he thought. Unfortunately, there are victims in the end but not all as you would expect!
The cast played their parts very well but unfortunately for the first ten minutes or so Philip Cairns (Max) didn’t seem to be relaxed and he appeared tense as is if talking off an autocue with his Scottish accent coming and going throughout the evening. The play really picked up with the appearance off Christopher Timothy as Inspector Hubbard. He played his part very professionally along with Robert Perkins (Sgt Ray Steele in The Bill) as Captain Lesgate.
One lovely touch is the theatre has screens at the side of the stage showing the dialogue making the play suitable for the hard of hearing.
We had an enjoyable evening and would recommend the play as one to go and see. So we are giving the show a 4/5.
Rating: 4/5
For more information, tour dates or to book tickets visit www.dialmonstage.co.uk.
