Frederick Knott News

Patio Playhouse Community Theater ushers in the season of scares with the suspenseful thriller Wait Until Dark, which opened Friday, October 5. Written by Frederick Knott of Dial M for Murder fame, this version of the 1966 original has been updated by renowned playwright and adaptor Jeffrey Hatcher (Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Tuesdays With Morrie) into a sleek film noir spin for a 21st century audience, even more gripping and fast-paced than before. Set in 1944 Greenwich Village, the plot centers on Susan Hendrix, a recently blind woman who must defend herself from the murderous thieves who have broken into her apartment in search of a doll whose peculiar value will have a surprising reveal. As the gasp-inducing developments advance in a battle of wits between the clever Susan and her ruthless tormentors, she discovers that her blindness might be the unexpected key to her triumph, and ultimately, her survival.

Penobscot Theatre Company will produce the classic thriller Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott, in a new adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher, as the second show in its 45th Season. Performances will run October 18 - November 4 at the historic Bangor Opera House.   

WAIT UNTIL DARK on Hale Centre Theatre's Jewel Box Stage is a chilling thriller, in a successful departure from the theatre company's typical fare. The production is crafted meticulously to create an unsettling atmosphere that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.

Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) opens its 67th season with Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, in weekend performances from September 7 - 30, 2018.

Gee whiz, Bretton Reis is such a nice guy. Ask anyone. But watch him in "Dial M for Murder" on the Hackmatack Playhouse stage in Berwick for the next three weeks and you will see the epitome of evil in a character willing to do anything to get 90,000 pounds, including kill his wife.

Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) opens its 67th season with Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, in weekend performances from September 7 - 30, 2018.

Gee whiz, Bretton Reis is such a nice guy. Ask anyone. But watch him in "Dial M for Murder" on the Hackmatack Playhouse stage in Berwick for the next three weeks and you will see the epitome of evil in a character willing to do anything to get 90,000 pounds, including kill his wife.

Director Gary Locke of Merrimack, NH, has long wanted to stage a play in black & white. So when the folks at Hackmatack Playhouse asked him to direct "Dial M for Murder," he saw this as his opportunity.

Director Gary Locke of Merrimack, NH, has long wanted to stage a play in black & white. So when the folks at Hackmatack Playhouse asked him to direct "Dial M for Murder," he saw this as his opportunity.

Award winning theatre company LOFT ENSEMBLE announces its 7th Season of complete programming. Founded in 2008 by Geoffrey Hillback, Adam Chambers and Emmy Award nominated actor Cameron Britton (Mindhunter) among others, Loft began curating full season programming in 2012 at its original space in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles.

Theater at Monmouth's 2018 Summer Repertory Season continues with Frederick Knott's classic Dial "M" for Murder. The run starts on Thursday, July 26th, at 7:30 p.m. and continues throughout the season including matinee and evening performances on both weekdays and weekends. This gripping noir thriller, famously brought to the big screen by Alfred Hitchcock, transforms the 'whodunnit' into the 'will they get away with it?' Is it possible to commit the perfect crime, or does justice always prevail?

English playwright and screenwriter Frederick Knott, though a reluctant writer, is known for his ingeniously complex, crime-related plots even though he only completed three plays in his career. Two have become classics: the London-based stage thriller Dial M for Murder, which was later filmed in Hollywood by Alfred Hitchcock, and the chilling 1966 play Wait Until Dark, which also became a Hollywood film starring Audrey Hepburn as a blind woman terrorized by thugs in her basement apartment. His third play, WRITE ME A MURDER, has never achieved the same acclaim nor been performed nearly as much as his other two hit plays. See it now at Theatre Palisades, directed with attention-grabbing skill by Michael-Anthony Nozzi.

Penobscot Theatre Company proudly announces its 2018-2019 Season, an assortment of plays and musicals professionally produced and staged at the company's historic home, the Bangor Opera House. The season will open just after Labor Day and extend into early July with a surprise seventh show, to be announced at a later date. 'If there's a unifying theme for our 45th season,' said Producing Artistic Director Bari Newport, 'it's family. Through these compelling stories we'll introduce families of various stripes-from nuclear to nontraditional, embattled to emboldened-while growing our own family of subscribers.'

Westerly's Granite Theatre knows how to stage a good mystery. Whether weaving through plot twists penned by Agatha Christie or deftly melding horror and comedy ala Joseph Kesselring, the Granite reliably delivers a solid 'whodunit' season after season. This spring, the company lives up to its sterling reputation with a production of DIAL M FOR MURDER that absolutely sparkles.

Lakewood Theatre Company will begin its 66th season with six productions on its Mainstage and three productions on its Side Door stage beginning July 6, 2018.  

It is a universal human experience trying to find where you belong; to find your home. In our 52nd season here at Patio Playhouse, I'm excited to present a series of shows that explore finding family and home.

The Renaissance City Theatre, Inc. (RCTI) announces the exciting and new 18th Season of the Granite Theatre. Southern Rhode Island's only year-round theatre is within walking distance of some of the region's finest dining as well as a beautiful stretch of beaches and popular resorts. The Theatre is in a beautifully refurbished Greek Revival building located in the heart of historic downtown Westerly.

This summer, Theater at Monmouth celebrates wily, wicked, and wonderful women through classic literature's most fantastic females. From fierce matriarchs, unfaithful wives, and every Madonna in-between, Roar! The Year of the Woman spotlights the ladies who move mountains for their families, friends, and most importantly, themselves. Taking on tyrants, freeloaders, and faithless frauds these femme fatales fight for what they believe in, charting a course to a better world for their sisters and daughters.

There's a new performance venue in San Francisco, and the SF City Theatre Company has found a new home there. The Clarion Music Performing Arts Center is in San Francisco's Chinatown at 2 Waverly Place (at Sacramento Street.) SFCTC's first offering in the new venue will be Frederick Knott's suspense thriller, Dial M for Murder, March 10-24.

Frederick Knott's thriller, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, is the story of Susan Hendrix, a recently blinded housewife who unwittingly possesses a doll filled with diamonds. Harry Roat, a brutal and sophisticated criminal, coerces two small-time thugs into helping him con Susan into giving up the doll.