Amanda Williford and Jarred Kjack star in "The Mousetrap" at the Lyceum Theatre in Arrow Rock. The Agatha Christie mystery will be showing Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 28, including a talk-back session following the Wednesday, Sept. 24, 8 p.m. show. (Contributed photo) [Click to enlarge]

"The Mousetrap" has a familiar premise, one made popular by its author, Agatha Christie, and done, redone and spoofed many times over the years: A group of people is stranded in an isolated house and one of them is a murderer.

The play is a who-dunnit mystery where the task for the audience is not to seek clues about who the murderer is so much as sort through the flood of clues, most of which are red herrings. Which of the many clues are the right ones?

As Lyceum Artistic Director Quin Gresham's character, Christopher Wren, says, "You never really know what people are like or what they are thinking."

Much remains hidden by the characters, to be sure, but they simulatenously give much away, sometimes through the secrets they attempt to keep, each giving the audience much to ponder.

The task is made more fun by clever dialog and characters who are now-familiar types: the severe and demanding matron, the jovial ex-military man and the romantic foreigner.

Making familiar stories come alive and seem fresh and sparkling is something Lyceum casts tend to do quite well, and this one is no exception.

The characters are types, of course, but the cast plays them with a fine balance between a straight, realistic portrayal and over-the-top, scenery-chewing melodrama. Going too far either way would spoil the effect, but getting within sight of the edge without going over is what makes the show work so well.

Gresham's sort of manic-depressive young man who says he is an architect, like his namesake, gives the play most of its energy and humor.

But Lyceum regulars Joneal Joplin, as Major Metcalf, and Elena Gronlund, as Miss Casewell, show why the Lyceum keeps bringing them back again and again.

Gronlund shows some of her range with this performance. In the past she has played blond bombshells (as in "Sugar" last season), a straightlaced reporter (in "Philadelphia Story," also last season), but she is just as convincing this time as the hard-edged, curt, masculine woman.

Audiences may be slow to recognize Ames Adamson, who played the amiable postal carrier in "On Golden Pond" but in "The Mousetrap" is the suave, heavily-accented Mr. Paravacini.

Jarrod Zimmerman, a mainstay on the Lyceum stage this season, returns to play Detective Sgt. Trotter, and newcomers Kathleen Huber, who also directs, Jarred Kjack and Amanda Williford round out the cast.

With so many apparently guilty characters to choose from, it is a challenge to figure out who really "dunnit," but it's certainly fun to try.