Sujay Ghorpadkar opens up about his ongoing play in the city, Dial M for Murder

I got to know about Dial M for Murder because of the Hitchcock classic. My dad introduced me to Hitchcock about 35 years ago and this was the first film of his that I watched. I was hooked ever since. I had been wanting to stage it in Marathi and was working on it when this opportunity came with Bangalore Little Theatre. Around 40-45 people applied, five directors were chosen and I was one of them. When asked what I wanted to stage, I had other options, but Dial M for Murder was on top because it’s such a gripping plot.

The film is based on the original play written by Frederick Knott in 1953. We secured the official licence to perform the script. About 80 percent overlaps with the film, but around 20–25 percent is present only in the play. The original runs close to two hours and forty minutes; we brought it down to about two hours and five minutes. The suspense builds through conversation and subtext rather than dramatic tricks. The dialogues remain the same, but the set and overall treatment are different.

The entire play happens in one living room. In the original script, the corridor outside the main door is never seen; you only hear footsteps. That door is central to the mystery. I wanted the audience to see both sides of it, so I incorporated the corridor into the set. Designing a single set that shows both spaces was the challenge. I’m a practising architect, so I designed it with my team.

The language was a challenge as it’s set in the 1950s. We worked on diction to ensure uniformity. At its heart, the play is about control — of relationships and perception. I wanted the audience to feel like they were peeking into the characters’ home.