The stage murder mystery “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie holds a record as the longest initial run of any play in history, having added up more than 29,000 performances continuously in London’s West End since it first opened in 1952.

The longevity and the twists and turns of the plot are two clues about why director Leigh Selting eagerly agreed to lead a new run of the play Thursday to Aug. 20 at Dunes Summer Theatre in Michigan City.

“Murder mysteries are done very often by a lot of theater companies because the staging, the timing of the scenes and characters have to be so precise, so it’s challenging,” said Selting, who is from Wyoming and making his Dunes Summer Theatre directorial debut.

“This is an eight-person cast and part of the fun is the fine-tuning to work with the actors and actresses to capture the personality of the person they are portraying and how characteristics might change as the mystery starts to unfold.”

The plot involves a group of strangers, including someone who is the murderer, stranded in a boarding house during a fierce snowstorm. Suspects include the couple who run the house, a nosy older woman, an eccentric architect, a retired Army major, a strange traveler and a malcontent who enjoys making the rest of the guests miserable.

When a policeman arrives on skis, a series of murders begin, causing panic and paranoia. As the policeman begins to probe the background of the gathered identities, the layers of truth and masquerade are revealed, keeping audiences on the edge of seats.

“One of the aspects I love about directing a mystery is it forces the audience to stay engaged throughout the experience to connect the dots,” said Selting, who has acted in mystery plays such as “The Business of Murder” and “Dial M for Murder.”

“Agatha Christie is so clever with how clues are presented and what tricks are also used to keep people guessing throughout the story.”

Kalika Rose, who is cast as Mollie Ralston, one of the owners of Monkswell Manor, the setting for the murders, said she previously appeared in a production of “The Mousetrap” while in high school.

“The only thing more challenging than doing a mystery play is when you also add the element of comedy, which was the case when I did a production of ‘Arsenic and Old Lace,’ ” said Rose, who also appeared in the Dunes Summer Theatre production of “I Hate Hamlet!” last month.

“There’s always that payoff in the end for an audience to stay glued to every word when enjoying a good murder mystery on stage.”

Peter Newman, who is cast as Christopher Wren, the character described as an odd young man in the guise of being an architect running away from his past, is also heading the set construction for “The Mousetrap.”

“The surroundings for the setting of a murder mystery is always so key to the story since every scene builds on what’s happening all around the characters in their space,” Newman said.

“In this case, it’s a classic English manor tucked away in the middle of a sprawling countryside. And since it’s set in 1952, everything we’ve created reflects the time period.”

Equally challenging for the cast of the play is the fact that no movie version of this Agatha Christie work has ever been created, since the contract for the play stipulates the film rights cannot be sold until after the completion of the play’s original run.

The cast has been rehearsing since July 9 and Rose and Newman agree there is a comfortable chemistry between the actors and actress assigned to the roles.

“A number of us have already worked together in other productions earlier this season here at Dunes Summer Theatre,” Newman said.

“Jeffrey Baumgartner, Dunes Theatre artistic director, Andy Ricci and Zoe Sjogerman were all also in ‘I Hate Hamlet!’ during the June run, and now we are together in ‘Mousetrap’ so we already have a comfort level knowing each other as we slip into our new characters.”

Philip Potempa is a freelance reporter.