What made you interested in this project as a director?
Obviously the first reason was to come back to the Globe. When I think back to my first show here—it was Ace, in 2007—I realize that the Globe has watched me evolve both as a director and as a human being. So it feels like coming home.
And the second reason is Jeffrey Hatcher’s brilliant adaptation of this classic play. He is extraordinary. He’s actually every one of these characters in the play. He has wit, he has charm, he has a devilish smirk, and his creative wheels are always turning. Jeffrey has exactly the mind to write such a fresh and intelligent and modern retelling of this classic story. What he’s managed to do—and this is what got me so excited about this adaptation—is to maintain the integrity of the original play while also reactivating it. Giving it relevancy. Giving the characters, and specifically Margot, more agency.
Would you call this a “reinvention” of the original?
It’s an evolution of something that’s an established classic. To me, it’s like a metaphor for what’s happening in our world as we speak. I think that the world will be forever changed by COVID-19. I’m not a cynic; I’m primarily a very positive person. But there is something about the events of the last three years that tells me we are going to have to evolve with this, not only as human beings, but also as theatre practitioners. From the Globe to Broadway, everyone has been dealing with how to reinvent this experience of theatre making and, for the audience, theatre experiencing. So when I look at the reinvention of Dial M for Murder, I see the parallel of creating something new while also maintaining the integrity of the form.
The cast of Ace. Photo by Craig Schwartz.What do you think audiences will experience with this production?
Audiences continue to love anything that has suspense, anything that makes the mind think. I like to imagine this as “thinking theatre.” The play is entertaining and engaging, and it will deliver on all those levels. But it also forces an audience to sit forward, to not lay back in their chairs and just be entertained. Suspense activates audiences and their minds in a unique way.
And being in the round is a very different way to experience this kind of story. When you think of murder mysteries, whether it’s an Agatha Christie or a Frederick Knott, traditionally you see these plays within a proscenium arch, or separated from us via a television or movie screen. There are places to hide, there are doors and windows that people can be concealed behind. But here, the audience is like a voyeur in the space. You’re actually here, you’re actually walking into the apartment. We’re all in the same space, we’re all a part of the story. We also watch each other watching the show, and there’s a beautiful participation in that part of theatre in the round.
How would you describe the style of the piece?
I am so honored to be collaborating with this gorgeous team of designers in lighting, sound, sets, and costumes. We all have been excited about creating a very stylish and sexy production. And when I say “stylish,” I don’t mean just the period clothing or furniture, but also in a theatrical style: how lighting is used, how sound effects are used, how music is used. I’ve been very interested in exploring the scoring of the play, not as a musical, but by using music in combination with sound and lighting to elevate the storytelling. How much do you give away? How much do you hide? How do you create tension narratively through theatrical means and allow the audience to experience the story in a uniquely theatrical way?
Just like Hitchcock told the story in a uniquely cinematic way! What is your history with the film, and with Hitchcock in general?
There are certain filmmakers who have always been part of the cultural ecosystem of directors, and Hitchcock is one of them. But instead of diving deeply into Hitchcock for this project, what I’ve been doing is a lot of research on many different films from this period, including Douglas Sirk. In that 1950s era, there was also a very specific acting style. We’re not duplicating that style, but we’ve found our own style that’s its own—not fully Sam Shepherd naturalism and not 1950s melodrama. That’s been part of the excitement for me and the actors through the process, finding our own style. Also the dialogue is heightened—that’s another beautiful thing that Jeffrey has managed to maintain. It has that arch quality: it flies off the page with the energy of a 1950s melodrama, but it never feels archaic or dusty.
Yes! The Globe absolutely came to you for this project because you’re an artist who knows how to marshal the storytelling power of this medium to create a theatrical experience that’s as stylish and unique as the kind of experience that Hitchcock could create on film.
Well thank you for saying that. The Globe has always given me opportunities to do things I don’t necessarily get to do elsewhere. People think, “Stafford does musicals.” But here at the Globe I directed the play Red Velvet, and now Dial M. I think that when we use all the practitioners that come along with the theatre—lighting, costumes, sound, music, all these amazing artists—and we unleash them on the right script, in the right environment, we can create something quite spectacular.
The cast of Red Velvet. Photo by Jim Cox.
