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Metropolis' 'Dial "M” for Murder' needs more suspense

Murder onstage rarely elicits from an audience the kind of scattered, nervous chuckles that on Sunday accompanied the death of a would-be killer in Metropolis Performing Arts Centre's revival of “Dial ‘M' for Murder.”

Yet the response was understandable. Usually, when Metropolis serves up a homicide it's with a bit of humor — farcical whodunits being a staple of the Arlington Heights theater. But aside from a couple of droll quips — most courtesy of Edward Kuffert's archetypal British police inspector — there aren't many laughs in Frederick Knott's taut 1952 drama about a man who marries for money, then decides to murder his wife for her fortune.

Perhaps the unintended laughter resulted from an audience unprepared for and unsettled by Knott's well-plotted psychological thriller. More likely, it was the failure of director Kevin Wiczer to establish the proper tone of Knott's play, which originated as a 90-minute BBC telecast and became, under director Alfred Hitchcock, a hit 1954 film starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland. A rather liberal remake, “A Perfect Murder” starring Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow, bowed in 1998.

For this play to work, the director and cast have to make the tension palpable. The sound of a key in a lock or a knock at the door should jolt us from our seats. Instead, we wait (although never on pins and needles) for the introduction of Knott's characters, whose arrival Wiczer telegraphs by silhouetting the visitor against an opaque glass door. It's a gimmick, an attempt to generate suspense. And it quickly wears thin.

The genial Kevin Costello projects a grifter's affability as the self-assured Tony, a playboy and onetime tennis champ who presents a carefully cultivated mask of civility, especially to his wife Margot (Julie Bayer), a wealthy woman oblivious to the real source of her husband's affection. Eager to rid himself his wife, Tony blackmails former college acquaintance and petty criminal Lesgate (Göran Norquist) into killing her while Tony is away.

But his plan goes awry when the imperiled Margot fatally wounds her would-be killer during a violent attack. The quick-thinking Tony pins the blame on Margot, planting evidence that suggests she killed Lesgate because he was blackmailing her over her relationship with her former lover Max (Matthew Gall), an American television writer who specializes in crime dramas.

Unraveling the mystery falls to Inspector Hubbard (a nicely subdued Kuffert), a dogged detective perfectly content to let his suspects underestimate him.

Overall, the acting is competent, although Costello's Tony could use more menace. As he is, we're not really afraid of him. We should be.

What this thriller really wants is sharper pacing and more thrills. For “Dial ‘M' for Murder” to work, Wiczer needs to keep his audience on tenterhooks. That means upping the suspense and sustaining it. He demonstrates his ability to do so during the attack on Margot, augmented by Chelsea Lynn's moody lighting and the brutish fumblings of Norquist's hired thug. Appropriately disturbing, the scene generates some real chills. If only the rest of the play were as stirring.

The married Margot (Julie Bayer) reignites an affair with former lover Max (Matthew Gall) in a revival of Frederick Knott's psychological thriller "Dial 'M' for Murder" at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre. Photo courtesy of Liz Lach
Tony (Kevin Costello) plots to murder his wife in "Dial 'M' for Murder" at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre. Photo courtesy of Liz Lach
Inspector Hubbard (Edward Kuffert, right) shares his suspicions with Margot (Julie Bayer) and her former lover Max (Matthew Gall) in the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre revival of "Dial 'M' for Murder." Photo courtesy of Liz Lach

“Dial 'M' for Murder”

★ ★ ½

<b>Location: </b>Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, (847) 577-2121 or <a href="http://metropolisarts.com">metropolisarts.com</a>

<b>Showtimes: </b>7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 7 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday; through Oct. 19. Also 1 p.m. Oct. 1

<b>Running time: </b>About two hours, including intermission

<b>Tickets: </b>$38

<b>Parking:</b> Free adjacent garage and street parking

<b>Rating:</b> For teens and adults; violence may not be suitable for sensitive audience members

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