**** Who doesn’t love a good thriller? For those of you old enough to remember Alfred Hitchcock ( many great films and a weekly TV show that truly got me into thrillers), it appears that Oil Lamp Theater in Glenview has found the recipe to hold you spellbound for 2 hours and 15 minutes ( including one intermission) with Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Frederick Knott’s “Dial M For Murder.

Recently, Chicago’s theater scene had another production of “Dial M For Murder” on a much larger stage, with a much more fantastic set, and a theater that holds at least 10 times the number of people as Oil Lamp. As many of you know, I always say, “Seeing a play more than once, you will see that it is not the same each time”. Yes, a different director ( with their interpretation), a different cast, and of course, a different venue/set, changes the overall picture that is being created for each new audience. This is very true, and Oil Lamp’s production under the direction of Daniel King with a strong cast of players proves that point.

As this is a thriller with some turns along the way, and I never want to give away the thrills, I will only tell you some basics. The story is about a couple Tony ( a very strong performance by John Chambers) and Margot ( played to perfection by Paige Klopfenstein). As we learn from the very onset, through a first scene, Margot is in a strange situation that involves their friend Maxine ( deftly handled by Charlotte Foster). Again, I will not get into details of the scene, but it involves blackmail and plenty of mystery.

As we learn, Margot is very wealthy and her husband, Tony, is not. The story goes on to set up a special night and Tony arranges for an old schoolmate, Lesgate ( Robert Austin Love), to do the job. Nothing goes as planned, and the mishap of the well-planned evening brings in the police. The initial findings of the incident make it appear that Margot killed Lesgate and the rest of the story begins to open up the story and plot and subplots with the help of  Inspector Hubbard ( a powerful and very “Columbo-like” character played to perfection by James Sparling.). The turns of events open up a unique look at what truly happened, and the “whodunit” gets solved!

As I said, this is a little different than what Drury Lane did, and the film version as well, and I, for one, knowing the play ( and film) still found myself caught up in the story as presented by this excellent cast under King’s direction. The set (Spencer Donovan) is quite creative, and anyone who has been to Oil Lamp Theater is aware of the tiny stage, limiting them as to what they can do, but Donovan did it! Rachel D. Hemm’s lighting and Rick Reid’s sound were great and I loved the costumes by Taylor Pfenning. Ellen Marcus did the props, which were quite impressive, and last but not least, the intimacy choreography and fight direction by Jamie MacPherson were quite realistic.

Again, I do not want to give anything away which would spoil your experience, but I will leave you with these questions: will a murder take place? Will the clues make it obvious as to who did it? and finally, will you see the clues that will change the final answer, or will the performers have to show you the way? Have some fun, and enjoy a truly well-written script, well played in Glenview.

“Dial M For Murder” will continue through Nov 1st, with performances as follows: