Hailed as one of the most intriguing `thrillers' of its time, Frederick Knott's classic '50s murder play went on to achieve even greater fame as a film by Alfred Hitchcock.

Now, local audiences will have a chance to enjoy all the suspense of `Dial `M' for Murder' when the Jabulani Repertory Company's production opens at The Princess this week.

The play is set in an elegant area of London and centres around a retired tennis player who, plagued with debts, begins to think that life would be a lot better without his wealthy wife.

"Enter the intrigue!'' exclaims director Gavin Wilson. "Something goes terribly wrong! It's not so much a `whodunnit' as `how the hell are you ever able to prove it?' -- that's the intrigue. The whole thing,'' he adds mysteriously, "rests on a single item -- that is the twist.'' Invited by Jabulani producer Dusty Hind to stage the classic for this year's season, Mr. Wilson says this is the sort of entertainment that audiences obviously wish to see. "We have to remember that, in the Gazebo Room setting in the Princess Hotel, we are catering primarily to our tourists and they seem to prefer `easy' entertainment which tends to be in the vein of murder mysteries or rollicking farces. People on holiday are not really interested in watching plays that have any underlying serious messages -- all they want is escapism, either through suspense or a good laugh. That, I'm afraid, is the `bottom line' reality of staging `tourist' productions.'' While obviously not wishing to give too much of the plot of this latest production away, Mr. Wilson makes the point that this famous drama is as much a psychological thriller as an ingenious murder mystery. Conceding that some people will have seen the movie, which starred Grace Kelly, Ray Milland and Robert Cummings, he adds, "To tell you the truth, I am not a great fan of Hitchcock. I think his work has become very dated, whereas the play itself hasn't dated at all. I think it's much better than the film because it needs to be underplayed (as on stage) rather than overplayed, as it was in the film, where all the characters were, in my opinion, rather `over the top'.'' The Jabulani production boasts Ken Morgan, Julia Snelling, Jens Hansen, Ian Birch and Steve Parkinson in its line-up, a cast which Gavin Wilson understandably finds "very good indeed. Ken Morgan is an absolute master of `underplaying' and has been in three of the plays I have directed. Julia is superb, totally professional in everything she does. Jens is also wonderful -- as are Ian and Steve. The thing about doing this type of play is that it's not what you would call an `action play' -- there are a lot of talking heads! Of course, it's a brilliant and entertaining script, but I have to get the characters to move in order to break some of the talking up -- because plays like this have nothing other than the dialogue to keep things going. It could become tedious to look at a basically static scene for any length of time, however good the plot and script. The secret of the success of the cast -- and this cast has captured this quality perfectly -- is to be very natural and to move naturally. This is much harder than the general public may think -- in fact, it takes a great deal of talent. If you don't have that complete air of naturalness,'' he adds, "the play simply doesn't work. So the joy of working with people of this calibre is that they all instinctively know how to speak and how to move. The direction may seem minimal, but a degree of subtlety is called for!'' Commenting that, in his opinion, directing should be a team effort, Mr. Wilson says that, very often, a cast member will make a suggestion that works brilliantly. "When that happens, I just say `thank you' and it's incorporated into the play! I like others to contribute. If they feel comfortable they will pass that feeling on to the audience but if someone is uncomfortable with a move or the way in which something is said, they certainly won't come across as natural. On the contrary, the whole thing becomes totally artificial.'' Gavin Wilson, of course, needs no introduction to local audiences.

Professionally trained, he has long been recognised as one of Bermuda's leading actors and directors. His list of credits is endless, but most recently, he has been acclaimed for his one-man show as Mark Twain, his appearance in `The Slippered Pantaloon' with Nigel Kermode (both directed by Bermuda's `first lady' of the theatre, Elsbeth Gibson), as the `dame' in several BMDS pantomimes, as director of several previous `murder mystery' plays and of the musical `Annie' for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

The cast of `Dial `M' for Murder' is headed by Ken Morgan, another of Bermuda's finest actors and a stalwart of BMDS who has starred in several of Mr. Wilson's plays, most memorably in the 1995 Daylesford production of the excellent `Murder By Misadventure'.

His wife is played by Julia Snelling, a professional actress who trained at the London Studio Centre. She appeared in several London plays and in various cabaret shows in the UK and also acted for the British National Film School.

In Bermuda, she has starred in Alan Ayckbourn's `Relatively Speaking' for Jabulani and played Anne Page in Joel Froomkin's production of `The Merry Wives of Windsor' for BMDS.

Ian Birch is almost as well known for his spectacular `special effects' in various local productions as he is for his acting. Past roles include the Dame in `Cinderella', and Toad in `Toad of Toad Hall'. His directorial talents have been directed towards `Steel Magnolias' and `Key for Two' and currently, he is directing his wife Carol in Jabulani's production of `Shirley Valentine' (which is playing in tandem with `P.S., Your Cat is Dead' and `Dial `M' for Murder' in the current Jabulani winter season).

Murder play There is a spot of type-casting, perhaps, in the fact that Steve Parkinson, who plays Inspector Hubberd in this production, is a police officer in real life. Playing entirely against type, however, he held audiences totally in thrall with his interpretation of an opium-smoking Jamaican Caterpillar in the 1994 BMDS pantomime of `Alice in Wonderland'; he also played major roles in `Me and My Girl' at City Hall and in Derek Corlett's hilarious production of `Noises Off' at Daylesford last year.

Hans Jensen, who had a leading role in the late David Dill's production of E.R. Gurney's `The Dining Table' and played opposite Richard Fell in `Death Trap' for Jabulani in 1994, completes this outstanding cast.

`Dial M for Murder' opens this Thursday and runs through Saturday, March 1. It will also play at the end of March and again in April.

MURDER ON THEIR MINDS -- Director Gavin Wilson (centre) pictured with the cast of Jabulani Repertory Company's production of `Dial `M' for Murder' which opens at the Pembroke Princess this weekend (back row, left to right) Steve Parkinson, Ian Birch and (front row) Jens Hansen, Julia Snelling and Ken Morgan.