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 Ant

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