Waterworks Players presents the world’s longest running stage play The Mousetrap by English crime novelist and playwright Agatha Christie from July 26 – August 3.

Originally based on a radio play called Three Blind Mice to celebrate Queen Mary’s 80th birthday in 1947, Christie adapted it into a short story then into the full length stage play that is best known today. In 1952, this mystery masterpiece opened at London’s Ambassadors Theatre and has been running continuously to this day with over 28,000 performances.

This story opens with two newlyweds who have inherited Monkswell Manor, a once-regal estate with high maintenance costs. Against their better judgment, the couple decide to turn the property into a guesthouse. After the visitors arrive, a blizzard traps them inside the home and they discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst. One by one the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts until at the last, nerve-shredding moment the identity and the motive are finally revealed.

Who can it be?

Could it be the tall and pretty Mollie (Tehya Cifers) owner of Monkswell Manor, her husband Giles (John Burton) or the unpleasant spinster Mrs. Boyle (Jeffree Hudson)? Perhaps it’s the neurotic architect Christopher Wren (Randall Linkins), the retired Army major (Mike Montgomery), the strange and aloof Miss Casewell (Christy Moore), or the unexpected guest Mr. Paravicini (Billy Tucker). To sort out the mystery, there is detective Sergeant Trotter (David Standley). Chris Brochon rounds out the cast as the radio voice.

Scott Chapman directs his second production for Waterworks and will also serve as lighting designer. Other members of the creative team include: Moffatt Evans as scenic designer and technical director, Erika Evans and Hannah Boswell as co-costume designers, and Chris Brochon as sound designer. Rounding out the creative team are Kaydan Ferguson as production manager, Ashley Ashlock and Don Blaheta as stage managers, and Dudley Sauve as artistic director.

Perhaps Mousetrap’s popularity stems from a tradition in which one of the actors finishes each performance with a direct address to the audience: “Now you have seen The Mousetrap you are our partners in crime, and we ask you to preserve the tradition by keeping the secret of whodunit locked in your hearts.”

The show runs July 26, 27 and August 2, 3 at 8pm. There is also a matinee on July 28 at 2pm.

Tickets are $12 and can be ordered online or by phone.

For more information or to volunteer, contact the Waterworks Players at 434-392-3452 or info@waterworksplayers.org. To buy tickets: https://waterworksplayers.org/buytickets.