ONE of the major players in the world of theatre in recent decades has been Bill Kenwright and later this month the impresario's new theatre company will be bringing a murder-mystery to Malvern’s Festival Theatre.

Following his phenomenal decade-long success with The Agatha Christie Theatre Company, which sold over two million tickets and continually played to packed houses all around the UK, comes a new thrilling chapter as he announces The Classic Thriller Theatre Company and its first production Rehearsal for Murder.

This crime thriller comes from the pen of the legendary award-winning writing team Richard Levinson and William Link, the creators of the unsurpassable mystery series Murder She Wrote and the award-winning TV detective series Columbo.

Rehearsal for Murder will be at the Festival for a week long run from Monday, January 25 to Saturday, January 30.

The production stars Robert Daws, who has appeared in television series such as Poldark, The Royal, Outside Edge and Roger Roger, while his wife and co-star from The Royal, Amy Robbins - also Casualty and Blood Brothers, will be on stage with him.

Also appearing in this forthcoming production are three of the most popular members of the Agatha Christie Theatre Company - Susan Penhaligon (Bouquet of Barbed Wire, A Fine Romance), Robert Duncan (Drop The Dead Donkey, Go Back For Murder) and Been Nealon (Soldier Soldier, Black Coffee).

Rehearsal for Murder tells of playwright Alex Dennison being left heartbroken when his fiancée and leading lady Monica Welles is found dead from an apparent suicide after the opening night of her stage debut.

On the anniversary of that ill-fated night, Alex assembles the same cast and crew in the same theatre, for a reading of his new play. But as the reading progresses, the play’s similarity to actual events becomes increasingly uncomfortable for the participants, and it soon becomes clear that Alex believes Monica was murdered and his new play is a devious cat-and-mouse chase to uncover her killer...

The performance times are 7.30pm in the evenings with matinees at 2.30pm on the Wednesday and Saturday.