AODS will perform Agatha Christie’s gripping thriller Murder on the Nile at the Alton Assembly Rooms from November 12 to 14.

This three-act play, adapted by Christie from her own 1937 novel Death on the Nile, is a suspense-filled mystery transporting audiences aboard a luxurious river steamer where passion, jealousy and deception are rife.

Kay Ridgeway has led a charmed life. Blessed with beauty, enormous wealth and a new husband, she embarks on a honeymoon voyage down the Nile.

Fatal circumstances await when the idyllic surroundings are shattered by a shocking and brutal murder.

Under scrutiny are a multitude of memorable passengers, all with a reason to kill. The tension builds as a shocking and audacious conspiracy is laid bare.

As secrets unravel and tensions rise, everyone becomes a suspect in this classic Christie whodunit.

Expect Christie's usual cleverness, wit, entertainment value and exceptional grasp of human nature. Watch closely, question everything and try to work out the culprit.

Arabella Davis will direct the production. The cast is Kate Youll (1st Beadseller), Daniel Walsh (2nd Beadseller/McNaught/Police Official), Rebecca Norton (Kay Mostyn), Amanda Buchan (Louise), Tamasin Ellis (Miss Ffoliot-Ffoulkes), Alex Grant (Steward), Sophie Borrell (Christina Grant), Sapphire Cook (Jacqueline De Severac), Ian Larkin (Dr Bessner), James Morley Smith (William Smith), Dave Towns (Canon Pennefather) and Finn Walters (Simon Mostyn).

There are performances at 7.30pm each night and a matinee on November 14 at 2.30pm. For tickets call 0333 666 3366 or visit www.aods.org/tickets

The Alton Dramatic Society was formed in 1921 when a small number of All Saints Church members and their friends got together to raise funds for the church with a revue entitled A Little Fowl Play. It became the Alton Operatic and Dramatic Society, and then AODS, staging two shows a year.

In 1952 and 1953 it helped Alton celebrate the Queen’s accession by treating audiences to rousing performances of Merrie England.

During the Second World War members went to Bordon to entertain British soldiers. After the war they entertained German prisoners-of-war from Fishers Camp with Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera The Gondoliers. In 1994 AODS took part in the D-Day landing commemorations with their show We’ll Meet Again.

A celebration of Broadway musicals saw the audience master the pelvic thrust from Time Warp during a section on The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And Terry Pratchett’s play Guards! Guards!, with dragons, discworld and magic, was a long way from A Little Fowl Play.

AODS’ next production Spamalot, with music by John Du Press and Eric Idle, and lyrics and a book by Eric Idle, is based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail and is a cheeky slapstick musical offering a highly irreverent parody of Arthurian legend, the title being a portmanteau of Spam and Camelot.

It will be directed by Sue Sampson and choreographed by Anna Lang, with Sophie Borrell and Sapphire Cook as co-musical directors. Auditions are in December and the show will be at the Alton Assembly Rooms from May 12 to 15 next year.