1950’s London Wealthy Sheila Wendice had a brief affair with  a  writer, Max, while her husband Tony, a professional tennis player, was away on tour.  Tony discovers her indiscretion, and enlists the help of an old acquaintance to have her killed so he can inherit her money.  Things don’t go according to plan however, but Tony manages to frame her for murder, leaving her to face the death penalty, and leaving him to still inherit her wealth.  

The 1954 American  film “Dial M for Murder” directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Grace Kelly and Ray Milland owes it’s success to the original stage play of the same name, written by Frederick Knott, which opened in London’s west end in June 1952, and then on to New York’s Broadway in October. The film earned an estimated $2.7  million  in North American box office sales in 1954, and the play has remained a big favorite with theatre audiences.            

Last produced at the Stables in 1995 Dial M for Murder is directed by Adrian Bowd and is a Stables Theatre production.