Dial M For Murgatroyd: Grapevine Magazine

There is definitely a move away from what has become known as the traditional Christmas pantomime towards what might be called a Christmas show and in this, as in much, Eastern Angles has led the way.  Indeed the Eastern Angles Christmas Show has become a traditional part of many people's Christmas over the years and I know several people who book immediately the tickets go on sale in order to guarantee seeing it on exactly the same night every year.  Well this year their prompt action is going to be well rewarded as, Dial M for Murgatroyd , written by Julian Harries and Pat Whymark, is a real treat.

The Fitzall family's butlers keep meeting with grizzly ends but are they the real targets or just the innocent victims of a hapless killer?  It matters not really for the plot plays second fiddle to the fun which cracks on from the moment the actors take to the stage.  As always the script has more double-entendres than a conversation between Sid James and Ronnie Barker at a rock eating competition and the character and place names are a chortle-fest of ridiculousness.  This means that Dial M feels more like an end-of-the-pier variety show than panto but that, for me, is a good thing.

It's vital in these productions that the cast convey the sense that they are enjoying the daftness and this bunch certainly did that.  Julian Harries delivers some top class silliness and Emma Finlay, Deborah Hewitt and Samuel Martin all contribute much to the mirth and merriment but if there is a stand out daft laugh then it probably belongs to Patrick Marlowe and  the conversation he has between two of the characters he plays, Mrs Murgatroyd and Sir Gerald Bartrum, which features diminishing dialogue and quickening costume changes.

There should also be applause for the oft overlooked stage management, in this case EA stalwart Penny Griffin, as all the technical visual gags arrived exactly on queue.

Pat Whymark's songs provided, as always, a lot of laughs but, and this is my one complaint of Dial M, there could have been more if both sides of the auditorium (Dial M is performed in traverse) had been able to hear what the actors were singing.  It was not a problem with diction but volume; when an actor turned to the audience opposite it was very difficult to hear them clearly.  That was a shame as the lyrics of Pat Whymark's songs are comedy gems and it seems a pity to waste them.

However that did not detract from what was a cracking night out at the John Mills Theatre and if you're happy to swap a few 'behind yous' for a lot of laughs then Dial M should be on your Christmas list this season.