“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” runs through Dec. 22 at the Coaster Theatre in Cannon Beach.

A thriller will usher in the spooky season in Cannon Beach.

“Sleuth,” written in 1970 by Anthony Shaffer, will premiere at the Coaster Theatre Playhouse on Oct. 6 after a weeklong delay. The play was first scheduled to open Friday.

The Tony Award-winning Broadway production, directed by Mick Alderman, of Astoria, is billed as the “ultimate game of cat and mouse.”

In the play, mystery writer Andrew Wyke, portrayed by Bryan Churchill, invites his wife’s lover, Milo Tindle (Michael “Sasha” Miller), to his cozy English manor house, bedecked in game-playing inventions and gimmicks.

Tindle declares his intention to elope with Wyke’s wife, and the writer devises an elaborate game with Tindle at the center that launches a chain of events with ever-rising stakes, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

“Sleuth” has seen two cinematic adaptations, one in 1972 with Sir Laurence Olivier as Wyke, and another in 2007, with Kenneth Brannagh at the directorial helm, Jude Law as Tindle, and Michael Caine reprising his appearance but this time as Wyke.

As a Cannon Beach venue that relies on tourism, the Coaster Theatre Playhouse tends to produce plays appropriate for all ages. “Sleuth,” while still appropriate for teens, introduces more mature content and language. “It’s a wonderful thriller about a struggle of the two characters, who are not the nicest people, to figure each other out,” said Tronier.

The show was slated for the 2020 season but experienced a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. “‘Sleuth’ was on our radar for a very long time,” said Jenni Tronier, marketing and operations director of the Coaster Theatre Playhouse, which features all-volunteer casts. “Now we are catching up to our plans.”

The play will open with performances at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 and offers additional 7:30 p.m. shows on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14 and Oct. 20 and Oct. 21. Two Sunday matinees will be staged at 3 p.m. Oct. 8 and Oct. 15.

‘Sleuth’

Performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, select Sundays at 3 p.m. beginning Oct. 6, through Oct. 21

Coaster Theatre Playhouse, 108 Hemlock St., Cannon Beach

Tickets are $20 to $25

www.coastertheatre.com