Absent the thrills, Oil Lamp’s ‘Dial M for Murder’ still worth seeing
“Dial M for Murder” ― 3 stars
There’s nothing wrong with Oil Lamp Theater’s revival of “Dial M for Murder” that a larger stage wouldn’t solve.
And in about two years, when the Glenview theater moves around the corner to its new home with more seating, better sightlines and improved technical capacity, it will have a performance space worthy of this classic thriller.
Rooted in greed, sex and revenge, “Dial M for Murder” is a favorite among suburban theaters. Oil Lamp’s revival follows Drury Lane Theatre’s fall 2025 production and precedes Buffalo Theatre Ensemble’s revival, which opens next January.
One might think Jeffrey Hatcher’s deliberately plotted 2022 adaptation of Frederick Knott’s 1952 play would benefit from a claustrophobic setting. It doesn’t. Despite a swift pace and solid acting, director Daniel King’s production feels cramped on Oil Lamp’s postage-stamp-sized stage. The tight quarters diminish the menace. Case in point: There’s not much tension when a hired killer lurking in his victim’s apartment has no corner in which to hide.
Set in London during the 1950s, this influential bit of theater noir (Knott’s original inspired several film adaptations, including Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 version starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland and 1998’s “A Perfect Murder” starring Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow) centers on a jealous, philandering husband who plots to kill his unfaithful wife for her money.
Tony Wendice (John Chambers) is a failed writer turned publishing flack married to heiress Margot (Paige Klopfenstein). Considering the windfall Margot inherited, Spencer Donovan’s modest set doesn’t suggest the kind of wealth that invites a murder.
Hatcher’s updated version raises the stakes in that Margot has an affair with a woman, not a man as Knott imagined, something that would have caused a scandal in the 1950s. The woman in question is American mystery novelist Maxine Hadley (Charlotte Foster), who returns to London a year after Margot ended their romance to promote her new murder mystery.
During their reunion, Margot confesses to Maxine that she paid off a blackmailer who stole a letter referencing their affair and threatened to make it public. Meanwhile, Tony enlists school chum and reprobate Lesgate (Robert Austin Love) to murder Margot. When the murder plot goes awry and Lesgate ends up dead, Tony pins the blame on Margot, who is subsequently arrested by Inspector Hubbard (James Sparling, who played the similarly savvy Inspector Rough last year in Oil Lamp’s revival of “Gaslight”).
At the preview I saw, some of the sound and lighting cues were wonky and the intimate space resulted in some befuddling staging. Characters that the script directed to gaze out French doors onto the Wendices’ garden ended up downstage gazing into the audience, which, unless you’re familiar with the script and can intuit their intent, made for some puzzling moments.
In a performance that recalls Chicago-area theater veteran Nick Sandys, Chambers infuses Tony with a suave, glib demeanor that barely masks the ice in his veins. Klopfenstein is sufficiently conflicted as Margot. Foster brings worldly wisdom to Maxine. Love’s Lesgate comes across as more of a sad-sack dupe than a master criminal, and Sparling’s quietly capable inspector suggests a man who uses suspects’ underestimation to his advantage.
Oil Lamp’s production moves briskly, but it fails to tingle the spine. Still, King’s cast delivers. Perhaps a future staging in the theater’s new home will supply the requisite thrills.
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Location: Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview, 847-834-0738, OilLampTheater.org
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 1. Also 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 (understudy performance); 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Oct. 21; and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28
Running time: About 2 hours, 5 minutes with intermission
Tickets: $55
Parking: On the street
Rating: For adults; includes mature themes and some violence