The Guthrie Theater is bringing a new adaptation of a classic thriller to their stage. Local prolific playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher has applied his sharp wit and clever plotting to Frederick Knott's 1952 play
Dial M for Murder (later adapted into a movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock). In an interview in the program, Jeffrey noted that the first task of adaptation is not to screw it up. He didn't. I've seen the play a couple of times before, but I'm not familiar enough to know what was changed or tweaked, other than the obvious ones noted in that interview - the murderous husband is a failed novelist rather than former tennis celebrity, and the American writer named Max that his wife has an affair with is a woman. Without taking anything away from the original, these slight changes add a whole new layer to the story and make it feel more modern. Homosexual relationships very much existed in the '50s, they just weren't talked about. Much like
the new adaptation of the classic Western Shane last summer, this new adaptation adds back into the narrative the people that were erased. But rest assured, this
Dial M is still a thrilling twisty delight!
See it on the thrust stage through February 25.
