NORTH ESSEX THEATRE GUILD FULL LENGTH FESTIVAL 2024-5
NAME OF GROUP: Dovercourt Theatre Group
PRODUCTION: Dial M for Murder
AUTHOR Frederick Knott
DIRECTOR Maree Noons
ADJUDICATOR: John Sanders
DATE: 11th April 2025
VENUE: The Studio, Dovercourt

I was looking forward to this play and it did not disappoint

There is always a very intimate feel to the Studio. You arrive in the auditorium through the set itself. This brings you into the atmosphere of the play from the start. Always a friendly welcome from front of house; A good raffle which was over quickly. It might have helped if we had known what refreshments were available in the two intervals. This could have been added to the very useful introduction to the play. The programmes were functional. However, I found the white on black cast list not easy to read. Publicity was good as witnessed by a full house. I liked the poster design

The set made good use of the space available and worked well. The furniture and props felt very authentic. Changes to props and settings between scenes were efficiently done. I did find the time taken between the scenes to be overlong but, I suspect the constrictions of the venue did not allow for speed.

Lighting significantly added to the atmosphere. The whole width of the stage was well covered. The timing of the lighting changes was spot on. Sound effects were also appropriate and on cue. The sound of steps on the stairs were particularly good and added considerably to the tension

In the main I felt the costumes were appropriate to the time of the play and to each character's role. However, I am not a costumes expert but I did not feel that the men's suits (especially the Inspector) were of the period. The Inspectors trousers were much too long and I felt his shoes were far too flashy. The flat hat and hair style of Captain Lesgate did not seem appropriate to the character.

The play is long at nearly 3 hours and the action is over 3 acts and I was uncomfortable by the end. However, this was an excellent production. Good acting and an interesting script made for a most enjoyable evening. The cast did really well to remember the words to this very long and wordy script   I appreciate that the slow delivery did ramp up the tension but, the pace of the play was slow and was bit one paced for me especially in the long scene with Wendice and Lesgate. This scene is fascinating. Good use of music throughout added to the atmosphere. Movement was good. The nature of the relationships between Tony and Max with Sheila at the time of the play were not very clear and I felt made the playing of scenes with Sheila and the two men emotionally difficult. I would have liked more clarity as to how Lesgate was killed. I did not realise she had stabbed him with scissors. I thought he had had a heart attack. I think this could have been played up more so we could have seen the scissors.

Tony Wendice(Richard Kemo-Luck) An outstanding performance. Everything about him was right. Pace, movement diction all spot on. A most unpleasant man. He managed to flip his character from soft to menacing with ease. His movement and facial expression. Heightened the key plot moments
Sheila Wendice (Gemma Holman-Quinn) A good performance. Excellent diction and movement. Some of the hand movements and facial expressions were a bit over dramatic at times but did not detract from a very competent performance. She transitioned well from being in control to confused
Max Halliday(Rob Porter) Another good performance. I found Rob's diction a little unclear especially early on. I did not really get the romantic relationship with Sheila which seemed superficial.
Inspector Hubbard (Chris Holman) A breath of life when he appeared on stage. He brought a different dimension to the play. Good stage presence in a lovely part. He used devious methods to expose the villain. Played with confidence and aplomb. A little bit more humour might have been beneficial.
Captain Lesgate ( Greg McDowell) He and Wendice did a great job of the plotting scene, full of twists and turns. I thought that his cold eyes were used to extremely good effect. From my seat I thought I heard his dead body coughing but it could have been an audience member. He tended to keep his head down which, with his slow delivery , conveyed a character short of confidence. I felt he could have been more upbeat especially when he was querying Wendice's plans. However, this was still an interesting performance which I will remember.
Others (Simon Reader and Jordan Brown) The announcements and police were competently done

My colleagues and I had good evening at this intriguing venue watching a good play very well presented and performed.

Dial M For Murder by Frederick Knott
Director Maree Noons

Performed at The Dovercourt Theatre Studio, Dovercourt on Wednesday 9th April at 7.30pm.

I was warmly welcomed on arrival and was able to discuss the performance at the end with Director Maree Noons and most of the cast.

I am never disappointed with the set at this small studio and once again it was very attractive. Designed by Simon Reader and built by the society it represented the living room of the Wendices' flat in London. Two entrances had been created, one being the front door of the flat. Various items of furniture including a chaise-longue, desk (with phone) and a grandfather clock were placed on stage. The lighting was appropriate and there were some good sound effects eg footsteps in corridor outside the flat. Costumes were from the society wardrobe and were in the 1950s period .

Casting was particularly well done and all the characters performed their roles extremely well with good projection to the audience. Movement around this small stage was somewhat frantic at times but good blocking ensured that every space was used.

Richard Kemp-Luck, as Tony Wendice and Gemma Holman-Quinn as his wife, Sheila Wendice were particularly well matched. Richard was superb as the retired tennis player and had some wonderful expressions and movements. His role dominated the script so very well done Richard ! Gemma was wealthy and very confident and played the emotional scenes especially well. She was having an affair with Max Halliday, a crime writer. Max was well played by Rob Porter in a rather dull and dour way. He was quietly confident with a calming manner and certainly a good thinker as he worked out the plot !

I thought that Greg McDowell was brilliant as Captain Lesgate, an old university acquaintance of Tony. Greg played the role of this small time criminal in a thoroughly shifty, devious and sly manner. Chris Holman was Inspector Hubbard, a slow and pedantic policeman investigating the murder. This was a good role for Chris who projected this rather serious character well. Slow but sure, he unravelled the mystery in the end.

There were two minor roles. Jordan Brown was the burly policeman who appeared at the very end and ,off stage, Simon Reader was the radio announcer.

This was a clever and entertaining script which kept the enthusiastic audience guessing until the end !

Many congratulations to Director, Maree Noons for bringing this challenging production to the stage. The cast rose to the challenge and were very well supported by all the crew. Well done everyone. I enjoyed it immensely.

Hazel Hole MBE
Regional Representative
NODA East
District 11

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