Tacoma Little Theatre's staging of the classic tale of crime and betrayal, Dial "M" for Murder, draws your eye chiefly to three things: a telephone positioned on a desk by a window, an apartment's front door looming in the background and a green handbag resting on a davenport. These three ingredients, coordinated in symphony, are the most powerful chess pieces in a play that is less a "whodunit," as the program notes, and more of an exploration of what happens after "it" has been done.

Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full review of Dial "M" for Murder in the Music & Culture section.

DIAL "M" FOR MURDER, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through Nov. 9, Tacoma Little Theatre, $15-$22, 253.272.2281