The Coast Capital Playhouse in White Rock is hosting Peninsula Productions' rendition the 1952 Agatha Christie murder mystery The Mousetrap.

Starting Wednesday, the classic whodunit will run at the theatre at 1532 Johnston Rd. The play has run in London's West End for the last six decades, reaching nearly 25,000 performances.

The Mousetrap details a 24-hour period in which the newlywed owners of a guest house, their five tenants and a police officer become snowed in while a killer is on the loose.

"It's the first day that they open and their guests are exceedingly weirder one after the other," said director Wendy Bollard, with a laugh. The play features Laine Henderson of South Surrey in the lead role of Mollie Ralston, part owner of the Monkswell Manor.

"She finds everybody quite entertaining, even though in the 1950s, those people would have been quite off-putting to most people," said Henderson.

While Henderson has performed as a musician for years, this is her first acting role.

"I ventured into it in Grade 9 drama class and then I didn't pursue it after that," she said. "I just thought maybe it was too late, I'd never done any acting classes or anything like that."

She auditioned after seeing a casting call on Facebook, then got a callback for an off-book audition.

"When [Wendy] called me and asked me to play Mollie, I was really quite stunned. I just kept saying 'Really? Are you sure?'"

Everett Shea of North Surrey - a recent graduate of the acting program at the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts - will perform as the first guest, the effeminate and quirky Christopher Wren.

"Everyone has their own unique trait that applies to the play. You bring them all in a room together, it makes the play more alive."

Shea got his start performing in the Royal Players Club at Queen Elizabeth Secondary and has worked his way up to the stage at the 218-seat Coast Capital Playhouse.

"I've always been kind of fascinated with movies and acting," he said. "My entire life, my mom has been very encouraging and supportive in the whole acting department."

After 60 years, the play's twist ending still catches first-time viewers off-guard - and the cast would like to keep it that way.

"Once you become a part of that theatre crowd, you're more inclined to keep the end of it," said Henderson. "If everyone knew how it ended, then what's the point in going?"

The Mousetrap runs July 11 to 28 with nightly shows Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and 2: 30 p.m. matinees on Sundays. Tickets for the two preview performances on July 11 and 12 are $12. Admission is $23 for the remaining shows, discounted to $18 for seniors. Tickets are available at the Coast Capital Playhouse box office, online at www. whiterockplayers.ca or call 604-536-7535.