CULCHETH Players are to present A Murder is Announced as the second production of their 60th anniversary year.

The mystery is one of Agatha Christie’s most performed stage plays and follows on from the theatre group’s adaptation of Aladdin in February.

Graeme Walker, Culcheth Players chairman, said: “We are hoping to follow on from the enormous success of Aladdin by performing this classic Christie whodunnit which will again hopefully draw in the crowds.

“As the play is being staged during the World Cup, we are hoping to capture audiences who do not necessarily enjoy football and would prefer a night at the theatre.

“The play is being directed by Christine Boardman who is a huge fan of Agatha Christie.

“She and the cast are working very hard and are doing a marvellous job.”

The story follows an announcement in the paper which states the time and place when a murder is to occur in Miss Blacklock’s Victorian house in the village of Chipping Cleghorn.

The victim is not one of the house’s several occupants, but an unexpected and unknown visitor.

What follows is a classic Christie puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities, a second death, a determined inspector grimly following the twists and turns, and Miss Marple on hand to provide the final solution at some risk to herself in a dramatic confrontation just before the final curtain.

Culcheth Players formed in 1958 as a section of Culcheth Sports Club (Daten).

Since then the group has gone on to bag numerous Cheshire Theatre Guild nominations and awards and put on three productions a year at the club’s 200-seat main hall.

  • A Murder Is Announced runs from June 21 to 23. Tickets are £6. Visit culchethplayers.co.uk or call 07943 517710