Dial M for Murder: A Twisted Classic, Twisted Again

“What’s the most important part of one’s identity?” Tracy Brigden, Senior Artistic Producer at the Guthrie and director of the upcoming run of Dial M for Murder, muses, “Is it your sexual preference, is it your profession, is it your morality, is it your money, is it your society level, is it your job? What do you sacrifice if you’re not true to all those parts?” Brigden thinks audiences will be left mulling over questions like these after watching the Jeffrey Hatcher adaptation of Frederick Knott’s 1952 play, Dial M For Murder. 

Dial M for Murder has a legacy in film and TV that rivals its time on the stage. Alfred Hitchcock was the first to recreate the story a mere two years after it debuted on Broadway and several other reinterpretations followed, culminating in the 1998 film A Perfect Murder, which starred Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow. 

The play at the Guthrie is a fresh interpretation penned by playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, which twists the tale once again. “Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation is a new twist [on the original Dial M for Murder] in a bunch of different ways,” explains Brigden, “The lesbian relationship [a twist on the originally heterosexual affair], the fact that Tony…is now a failed writer [and Maxine is a successful writer], and he’s twisted and turned the storyline just enough so that if you’ve seen the movie you’ll still be surprised.”

“When I read the play, I got goosebumps,” says Jess Rau, Head of Wigs, Hair, & Makeup at the Guthrie, “I was so excited to see that we were going to be presenting a play where the two main characters were women who were in love with each other. You just don’t see enough of that.” 

Having two title roles not only for women, but that also centers an LGBTQ love story is sadly an anomaly even today. Brigden explains further, “[At] a theater like the Guthrie we’re doing 50% or more plays written [long ago]. If we’re doing so many plays from an era before 1970 that have no representation of any kind we have to ask ourselves, how do we embrace the classics and also have representation on stage?” The answer to that question comes in works like this one. Using the bones of a well-known thriller, Hatcher has created something recognizable but refreshed with modern themes and sensibilities. 

Brigden did warn me that if you are expecting something in line with last year’s wildly popular Murder on the Orient Express, this is not that. “It has some witticism,” she explains, “There are situationally funny moments, but it’s more of a stylish edgy thriller than a comedy romp.”

The “stylish” part of that description has some heavy lifting behind it. Rau has researched the era extensively in addition to drawing on her own lived experience as a queer woman. “I put on my queer hat,” Rau laughs, explaining her considerations in choosing the lead’s hairstyles, “[and thought], ‘Well actually Maxine might have a different kind of hairstyle and might be presenting a little bit differently considering the time and considering…lesbian culture.’” The differences in how the two women would have chosen to present themselves was front and center for Rau and the rest of the design team. 

“What size of eyelash would Maxine choose versus Margo and why?” she asks, “We chose a more natural lash for [Margo]…She chooses to be more understated in her makeup choices because she is a housewife who is closeted…Maxine is more grounded in her queer identity. She is more femme, so her lash is bigger.”

This thought process plays out in costume, hairstyle, and more. Not only did Rau’s team seek to highlight the differences between Margo and Maxine, they also made small choices (like the lead women wearing pinky rings) that an LGBTQ audience might pick up on. “In the 50s – and other decades, too – we were trying to conform to certain social norms but there’s coding. The pinkie ring, the colors of hankies and things like that all give off signals,” says Rau.

Rau anticipates that that feeling of familiarity will extend past the design choices. “[Dial M for Murder] resonates with today’s queer culture,” says Rau, “These women fell in love [and people felt] justified in murdering them…some of the laws are from the 50s but those laws still exist around the world today.”

Still, Rau insists that the lesbian love story at the center of the play is told in a way that our community will appreciate. “Sitting in that theater and seeing our relationships up there on the stage…” Rau stops for a moment, “Sure, it’s surrounded by murder, but there is joy and love in a lot of moments and I think if you’re a queer person or lesbian you’re going to recognize those moments.”

Not only is Dial M for Murder an intricate, tense thriller, it is also an opportunity to see one of our stories told lovingly and serves as a reminder of how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. 

Brigden summed it up with her own twist on another classic: “To thine own self be true. Otherwise you might wind up in jail.” Dial M for Murder is one of the Guthrie’s 2023-2024 season must-sees. “Sitting in a room with a whole bunch of people having [the] collective experience [of a thriller] is more fun,” says Brigden, “[When] you can gasp collectively it’s just more fun,” says Brigden. It is running from now through February 25. 

Oh, and as a special bonus for all of you who made it to the end of the article: look up a photo of Hatcher before you head to the theater. There is an image of him hidden somewhere on stage in homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s habit of hiding an image of himself somewhere in his movies.