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Pentacle Theatre returns to the stage with murder mystery “The Mousetrap”

Actors rehearse “The Mousetrap” for the Pentacle Theatre. The show opens Oct. 8 and will be performed without masks. (Courtesy/Pentacle Theatre)

Salem’s Pentacle Theatre is back with its first live show since the Covid pandemic began debuting Friday on its west Salem stage.

Local actors will stage murder mystery “The Mousetrap” beginning Friday and running through Oct. 23. Shows will be Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee, according to a news release from the theater.

The play, written by Agatha Christie, is set at the Monkswell Manor guesthouse, where employees and guests fall under suspicion after a local woman turns up murdered.

“A police detective, arriving on skis, interrogates everyone: the newlyweds running the guest house, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a dissatisfied jurist who makes life miserable for all, a retired Army major, a spinster with a curious background, and a strange man with an unplaceable accent who claims his car overturned in a snowdrift. It soon becomes clear that the killer is among them, and the seven strangers grow increasingly suspicious of one another,” the theatre said in a description of the play.

Theatergoers must show proof of vaccination against Covid or a negative PCR test for the virus within 72 hours of the performance in order to attend, according to the theatre’s announcement.

Guests must also wear a mask for the duration of the show. Gaiters and face shields will not be allowed.

Performers will not wear masks during the show. Oregon’s indoor mask mandate has an exception for people actively performing, such as musicians and actors.

General admission tickets are $25, with a 50% discount for frontline health care workers. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the theatre’s website.

-Rachel Alexander