Ensemble Theatre has had a very strong season this year and Dial M for Murder is the final show of their year, with director Mark Kilmurry choosing to bring a classic that has sold incredibly well across the world to Kirribilli for the holiday season for its Australian premiere. While this story is most famous for Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation, this production is based on Jeffrey Hatcher’s 2022 revisions of Frederick Knott’s original 1952 play.

This is the classic murder mystery with a twist, where former tennis player Tony Wendice arranges the murder of his wife Margot after finding out about her lover Maxine before the tables turn and Margot manages to kill the assassin, forcing Tony to find a way to escape the scrutiny of the police.

The production is highly entertaining with many twists and turns as the audience tries to work out who will eventually win out in this complex tale. The performers all do a fantastic job bringing the suspense and drama as well as a bit of humour to the stage. Garth Holcombe and Anna Samson star in the leading roles. Holcombe brings a suaveness and sinister bite to Tony while Samson brings the early drama as Margot. However, it is actually Kenneth Moraleda as the goofy Inspector Hubbard who steals the show with impeccable delivery and a whimsy that really lifts the production. Moraleda brings a somewhat self-deprecating humour to the role but with an underlying bite that proves to be more than he initially lets on.

Madeleine Jones is also fantastic as Maxine, Margot’s lover and Tony’s co-worker. The cast ensures that the audience is taken through the twists and turns of the story with clarity and the suspense is properly maintained for an audience that stays highly engaged throughout.

Nick Fry’s set and costume design are also fantastic, very much giving the vibe of 1950s London even as the context is modernised slightly. This adds an extra layer of intrigue with the presence of a same-sex extramarital affair and how such a relationship would have influenced a murder trial in the 1950s. Ultimately, the payoff at the end of the production is exciting and leaves the audience feeling satisfied in the way that only a murder mystery can. 

Overall, while there is nothing necessarily groundbreaking about this production nor the story, it is a wonderful crowd pleaser that is exceptionally well executed by the Ensemble team. It is a fitting cap to what has been a superb season (arguably the best of the Sydney theatres this year) and one can only hope it is a fantastic prelude to 2026. Much of this run is already sold out so if murder mysteries are your thing get your tickets now before it is too late!

Rating: ★★★★1/2

Dial M for Murder plays at the Ensemble Theatre until 11 January, 2026. For more information, click here. 

All photo credits: Phil Erbacher