Whodunnit? It's spelled out at Richmond Theatre (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Whodunnit? It's spelled out at Richmond Theatre

8:59am Friday 30th October 2009

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Dial M For Murder is perhaps best known for its big-screen incarnation directed by the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, since Frederick Knott’s play appeared in 1952, it has also proved a consistent hit on stage, writes Will Gore.

Daniel Hill, who plays Captain Lesgate in a new production of the show that heads to Richmond Theatre next week, says director Lucy Bailey has breathed fresh life into this well-worn thriller.

“Lucy is a fantastic director and I would walk across hot coals to work with her,” he says. “There are few people you can call ‘visionary’ but she is and she has taken what is already a great play and reinvented it.

“It got tarnished in the 70s by being taken on endless tours but I think, if Knott was alive, he would be jumping up and down because this production is great and I am proud to be part of it.”

But what is it that Bailey has done to ensure Dial M For Murder is revitalised?

“Lucy has taken it back to its grassroots and really highlighted the film noir element that Hitchcock brought to it,” explains Hill.

“She has approached it incredibly seriously, no differently to how she would approach Julius Caesar, which she has done recently at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

“She works with actors brilliantly – I have never been worked so hard on a character.”

In the play Hill’s character, Captain Lesgate, is blackmailed into murdering the wife of former tennis pro Tony Wendice and he says one of the drawbacks to playing the petty criminal is the facial furniture he has been forced to cultivate.

“I have had to grow a military moustache for the play and I cannot bear it,” he says. “I am getting funny looks in shops and my family hate it!”

Hill, who is known for his TV roles in Judge John Deed and Waiting for God, puts the enduring appeal of Dial M For Murder down to the meticulous approach of its author.

“Knott worked in military intelligence but, when he decided he wanted to be a screenwriter, his agent told him to start with a play,” he says.

“He watched loads and dissected what he thought makes a great three-act play and built Dial M around it.

“He said he would write a better thriller than anyone else and he did it by turning the genre on its head by exposing the thriller points to the audience and then upping them and upping them. It is a genius piece of work.”

Hill is looking forward to bringing the play to Richmond Theatre, not least because it means he will be working close to home.

“I am a local boy – I have lived in Barnes for 25 years,” he says. “I was there earlier in the year with Pack of Lies. I love Richmond Theatre, it is my favourite – I get to show off in front of my friends.”

Dial M for Murder, Richmond Theatre, November 3 – 7, ambassadortickets.com

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