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What's the appeal of "Dial M for Murder," which was a play (by Frederick Knott) before it became the popular Alfred Hitchcock film starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland?
Who can resist glamorous people getting caught up in dirty deeds while dressed to the nines and never losing their witty and cool reserve or their elegant British accents? They've got a killer apartment, too.
And this stylish production boasts an excellent cast.
As the play opens, it's 1952 and Margot (Margaret Loesser Robinson) is entertaining Max (Chris Thorn), an American television writer who specializes in crime stories. The two had an affair when he was living in London the year before.
The plan is that Max, Margot and her supposedly clueless husband, Tony (Mark Shanahan), will go to the theater together. (It's never made clear why Margot, who is wracked with guilt, is bringing Max back into her life.)
But then Tony begs out, and after Max and Margot leave, we discover that he wants his wife dead so he can inherit her fortune. The affair helped make up his mind.
We also learn that Margot was blackmailed by a mysterious figure a while back and that one of Max's love letters is missing.
Once Margot and Max go off to the theater, Tony invites over an old school chum who's been leading a fairly immoral life. Captain Lesgate (Jamie Jackson) is perfectly seedy, and the scene in which Tony — who's seedy in his own upper-class way — convinces Lesgate to murder Margot crackles with energy.
In fact, whenever Shanahan's Tony is on stage, the play is deliciously tense. He makes Tony urbane, cocky and delightfully evil.
Tony's plan is to leave Margot alone by heading off to a party with Max. Then Lesgate will come in and murder her just while Tony is on the phone with her — hence the title.
Tony thinks he has everything worked out perfectly, but of course he hasn't, especially when Margot ends up killing Lesgate.
Things twist and turn delightfully, and when the wily Inspector Hubbard (A. Bryan Humphrey) joins the story, a battle of wits plays out.
The final scene lacks some of the energy of the earlier scenes and there are too many silly phone calls, but the ending is definitely satisfying.
Robinson gives Grace Kelly a run for her money, and Humphrey is a lot of fun as the inspector. Thorn is fine as Max, but a little too clean cut to be horribly interesting.
While Shanahan is the star of the show, Robert Klingeloeffer's amazing black-and-white set and Beth Dunkelberger's elegant black-and-white costumes give the production irresistible style and polish.
Director William Roudebush definitely knows what he's doing. This is a smart, fun murder mystery. And those are the best kind.
"Dial M for Murder" runs through Nov. 8 at the Fulton.
