Set design breathes life into Theatre Calgary’s “Dial M for Murder”
Posted Oct 10, 2025 9:54 am.
Dial M for Murder is running at Theatre Calgary until Oct. 26.
It’s a show that is neither old or new, but is kind of both. Playwright Frederick Knott first brought this story to the stage in 1952, it was then adapted in 1954 into a film by Alfred Hitchcock, and the current version — Jeffrey Hatcher’s new stage adaptation — gives it a fresh edge for a 21st-century audience.
It rewrites the rules of the modern thriller; instead of asking who committed the crime, the play shows the audience the plan right from the start — and the tension comes from watching how it goes, or doesn’t.
The script leans into what only theatre can do: place you inside the room where everything unfolds. And the room itself is something special as Theatre Calgary has made into a character itself. Set designer Anton De Groot invites audiences to pay close attention to when they start to notice a shift on stage.
And in depth look at the plot design and spoilers follow:
That shift is both literal and psychological; what begins as a static, comfortable space slowly starts to move — so subtly at first that you might not even realize it’s happening. In fact, many audience members commented at intermission that it made their heads feel a little dizzy. Yours truly at first questioned if I was feeling unsettled because of my glass of white wine.
De Groot says working with director Gillian Kiley, a prolific Newfoundland artist making her Theatre Calgary debut, he approached the set as another character in the play.
“We were both interested in shifting perspectives and movement—the idea that scenography can be part of the storytelling,” he explains.
They decided to bring Theatre Calgary’s revolvING stage to life — but at an almost imperceptible speed in the first half. And that took a bit of math, the platform turns roughly five degrees every two minutes, transforming the audience’s perspective without them realizing it.
“I’d never seen a revolve used this way before,” says De Groot. “It gives a sense of three-dimensionality to the room. At times it feels voyeuristic — you’re peering into the space like an investigator.”
Minimal furniture and slow-tracking walls create the illusion of depth without ever breaking the claustrophobic tension of the apartment. As the floor turns, the power balance between characters seems to turn with it.
In Theatre Calgary’s hands, the classic thriller becomes something newly intimate and unsettling. A story where every slow rotation of the stage makes you question what’s true, what’s hidden, and what might be moving right under your feet.
It runs at the Max Bell Theatre through to Oct. 26.
