AS THE lights go down there are distant sounds of a woman’s scream, something of a tussle, raised voices and then a news bulletin reporting a murder in a London street.

Thus begins Agatha Christie’s longest-running whodunit which is being staged this week as part of the 60th anniversary provincial tour with a fresh cast headed by Louise Jameson and enough twists to keep the audience guessing to the end.

The curtain rises on an impressive set and a scene far removed from violence, a drawing room with manorial carved wood panelling, a fireplace with a few coals burning, and snow falling outside the stained glass window.

The audience learns this is the opening day of a guesthouse venture by anxious but optimistic Molly Ralston (Anna Andresen) and her sardonic, but willing husband Giles (Nick Barclay).

As the residents assemble and listen to the wireless news, it becomes apparent the impact of the killing has also arrived at the door and that there is a connection with a long ago tragedy in the neighbourhood.

Jameson’s unpleasant Mrs Boyce, perpetually finding fault with the accommodation and her hosts’ inexperience, injects tension among the stock-in-trade murder mystery characters – Oliver Gully, flitting about comically in mustard trousers and patterned jersey as young architect Christopher Wren exclaiming delight at the decor, Tony Boncza’s typically bluff retired Major Metcalf, Gregory Cox as unexpected arrival Mr Paravicini, foreign and sinister, and Amy Downham, whose facial expressions as frosty Miss Casewell suggest a troubled past.

Lewis Collier’s Sgt Trotter arriving on skis and poking his head through the open window brings a breath of fresh air to the action, and when one of the guests is found murdered, he commands the situation as the second act emotions run high in an atmosphere of mounting passion and mutual suspicion.

Pru Farrier