By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— South City Theatre is starting its 2015-2016 season with the world’s longest running show, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap.” The show is under the direction of Donna Williamson, who is a big fan of murder mysteries.

“It’s great and this is a great cast,” Williamson said. “I love murder mysteries. I’ve actually performed in seven murder mysteries consecutively.”

“The Mousetrap” has been performed continuously in London since 1952 when it opened, and there have been more than 24,500 shows done. It’s an older, and lesser-known play by Christie, but the show has a twist ending.

The show is set in 1952 England about 30 miles outside London in Mollie and Giles Ralston’s guesthouse. The Ralstons, played by Meg Young and Michael Wilbanks, have opened a guesthouse.

They have four guests with reservations— played by Corey Winston, Courtney Rohella, Bill Nixon and Alisha Ammons— and one guest who arrives unexpectedly seeking shelter from a blizzard. Jason Vandiver plays Paravicini the surprise guest.

The group of strangers soon finds themselves involved in a murder investigation with Sgt. Trotter, played by Alec Beiswenger.

“I like the interaction between the characters because some of the characters are really funny and some are very serious,” Williamson said. “Just the way they needle each other all throughout the show is good. Of course, the ending is great.”

The show will open Oct. 9 and play through Oct. 18. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. with one matinee Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. Williamson said she expects the audience members to be entertained by the performances.

“If people can just come and suspend their reality for two to two-and-a-half hours, enjoy what they see and come back to another show, that’s what we want,” she said. “We want to entertain them and that’s why we do this.”

Williamson said the cast and crew have worked hard on the production from set design to character development. The cast is made up of three veterans at South City Theatre and five new additions, which she said has been nice.

Rehearsals are beginning to wrap up, and Williamson said they are preparing for opening night.

“We are very excited about it,” Williamson said. “We’ve still got a lot to do and a lot of acting to do before then but it’s coming together.”

To purchase tickets or for more information, visit Southcitytheatre.com.