The Cape Cod Times is starting a new series where we plan a night out for you at the theater. We’ll recommend one show on a local stage and a choice of restaurants nearby, sometimes paired with the theme of the play.
This week we have Alfred Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” at Barnstable Comedy Club matched up with Tuscan cuisine and a prix fixe menu or seafood in a cozy cottage setting.
Barnstable Comedy Club director James Ring said this is the first time Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation has played on Cape Cod. Frederick Knott’s original 1952 “Dial M for Murder” ― which Knott adapted for Hitchcock’s 1954 film with Grace Kelly and Ray Milland ― was performed at the Barnstable Comedy Club in the 1957/58 season and again in 1984/85.
“Hatcher’s adaptation has been universally praised for making subtle revisions to the characters and plot so as to further add to the suspense and deepen the play’s resonance for contemporary audiences,” Ring wrote.
More about the Barnstable showing of ‘Dial M for Murder’
Fans will notice some updates ― including a female lover for leading lady Margot – as Barnstable Comedy Club puts on Hatcher’s 2021 adaptation of the original 1952 book.
“His most notable change was to make the American crime novelist with whom Margot had, in the past, carried on a torrid affair … into Maxine Hadley, converting Margot’s affair into a same-sex relationship, which was a far riskier activity to engage in within the City of London in the 1950s,” Ring said.
Still set in 1950s England, the new version has smarter women and a zippier pace that makes the murder mystery feel like it fits in the modern world.
“The play has an intricate, fast-moving plot in which pathological deceit, marital infidelity, blackmail and murder all come into play,” Ring emailed in response to a request for details on the production.
The resentment between Margot and her husband, Tony, is further fueled by his being a failed writer who works for his successful wife’s publicist.
A theater date in a post-women’s liberation world may raise questions about who buys the tickets and who pays for dinner. We say whoever does the inviting should pay or consider splitting, with one person buying tickets and the other dinner.
What we can suggest is a few options for a pre-show meal.
Barnstable Tuscan Cuisine, 3176 Main St., Barnstable, 3176 Main St., Barnstable, 508-362-2355, barnstabletuscancuisine.com
Right across the street from the theater is Barnstable Tuscan Cuisine, with a big menu of central Italian dishes, priced $30-$50. There is also a prix fixe menu (appetizer, entre and dessert) for $30 each, plus $5 for a glass of house malbec or chardonnay plus one of four beers, including the Italian lager Peroni.
Barnstable Tuscan Cuisine offers several options on its prix fixe menu but has limited hours of 4 to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 4 to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Another option, just down the street, is The Dolphin Restaurant. The Dolphin is known for its cozy cottage decor, friendly service and fried seafood platters, but it’s also home to broiled and fried fish, including salmon grilled with shrimp, spinach, crimini mushroom and orange beurre blanc. There are four salads and five sandwiches (yes, including a burger) for a quick pre-theater bite. The $20 early dinner promotion expired Jan. 31, but there are often specials on the menu. There is also bingo and live music so don’t forget to go to the theater!
Who is in the ‘Dial M for Murder’ cast?
The Barnstable Comedy Club cast includes veteran actors Rob Minshall as Tony, John Hanright (Lesgate) and Larry Lickteig as Inspector Hubbard ― all familiar faces from recent Barnstable Comedy Club shows. The female leads are played by Cassandra West, as Margot, who is a classically trained dramatic actress often seen in off-Cape productions and Flannery Rogers (Maxine), a native Cape Codder who works as a lawyer frequently appearing in Barnstable District and Barnstable Superior courts, according to Ring.
How to see ‘Dial M for Murder’ in Barnstable and how much does it cost?
The Barnstable Comedy Club, located at 3171 Main St. in Barnstable, presents Jeffrey Hatcher’s update, premiering at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, and playing at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays, through March 23. Tickets at $25, are available online at barnstablecomedyclub.org or by calling the box office at 508-362-6333.
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