Pierrot Players have found a winning formula for their biannual shows – they tend to stick to what they know their loyal audiences enjoy.

And they’ve found that what theatre goers like best of all is comedy.

As the Players’ publicity officers Melanie Nowicki explains: “We try to go fairly light-hearted because our audiences like comedy. This time we’re doing Murdered to Death by Peter Gordon, who is a Yorkshire writer. We’ve done his work before and it proved very popular.

“It’s a farcical comedy. We’re describing it as an Agatha Christie spoof and it’s a lot of fun.”

Murdered to Death will open on Wednesday, April 6, in Shelley Village Hall and is directed by Amanda Jackson, a familiar face in the Players as she has been acting with the company for several years. It is, however, her debut as a director.

The Pierrot Players, founded in 1981, has an enthusiastic core membership and draws much of its membership from the Shelley and Shepley areas. Although, as Melanie points out, it also attracts actors from other amateur theatrical organisations. It’s common for companies to ‘share’ the pool of local talent.

For their spring production the Players are turning the clock back to the golden age of detective fiction, the 1930s. The action of the play is set in a country manor house on a large estate and involves a diverse selection of characters who have gathered for a spot of weekend shooting.

There’s a butler who has definitely not been to butler school, a bumbling detective inspector, village sleuth and, of course, a murder victim.

The play has posed few logistic problems for the Players who have rustled up stage sets and props from their own possessions. “Rehearsals have been a lot of laughs,” says Melanie, “and we’ve got a really good set design team.”

The Pierrot Players in rehearsal for The Wedding Game by Alan Huff

It features a cast of both experienced actors and some who are relatively new to the Players. For Andrew Moyland, who takes the role of Pierre Marceau, a French art dealer with an exaggerated Gallic accent, it will be his first appearance on stage with the company.

His only previous acting experience - although relevant to the play - was when he took part in a murder mystery event with Emley Players last year.

Playwright Peter Gordon, who lives in York, specialises in writing comedies and has had 10 of his plays published. His work has been seen in more than 1,400 amateur and professional productions.

Murdered to Death is part of The ‘Inspector Pratt’ trilogy and spoofs the Agatha Christie genre of whodunnits.

It is one of his most-performed and popular plays. In 2014 the Players performed Gordon’s Third Week in August, a contemporary comedy set on a caravan site, and the author himself turned out to see their production.

“He said he loved it,” said Melanie. “We’re hoping he’ll be in the audience again for Murdered to Death.”

Tickets, price £6, for the show, which ends on Saturday, April 9, are available from Shelly McColl’s or Shepley Newsagents or on the door.