FREEPORT — Three nights of theater, tea, biscuits, mayhem and murder will be presented by Merriconeag High School’s Class of 2013 as they stage “And Then There Were None,” a dramatic journey 12 years in the making.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, May 29, 30 and 31, at 7 p.m., students will perform Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, “And Then There Were None” (based on her 1939 novel originally titled, “Ten Little Indians”).

This cast of 12 has a distinct advantage in terms of ensemble work, for the majority of the class have acted together in a play every year since first grade.

Each year in a Waldorf grade school, every class performs a play that is chosen to integrate with that year’s curricular themes and topics. The sequence of themes echoes the students’ own development as they progress through childhood. Classroom lessons take on new meaning when the students themselves bring them to life on stage.

For teachers, casting the play is an opportunity to present an appropriate challenge to each student. While one student will play a character with a personality like her own, another may benefit from playing someone very different from herself. In fact, one unique aspect of drama in a Waldorf school is that the plays are not only for the best actors. Every student has a role in every play every year. The students also assist with costumes, sets and lights, and productions usually include group sing, dancing, and performing on the recorder and other instruments.

In the Waldorf high school the performing arts curriculum continues with drama as an essential element. From “The Frog Prince” in first grade to “Twelfth Night” in eighth, these seniors went on to perform “Our Town” in 10th grade, “The Shepherds Play” (a Medieval mystery drama) in 11th, and now just a few weeks away from their high school graduation, the 12 actors are preparing their culminating performance.

While the play is brand new, the collaborative work of creating theater magic is old hat for this troupe. They inhabit the stage as a unit, and they say things like, “Remember back in third grade how we …” This experience allows the work to go so much deeper, for the benefit of audience and actor alike.

Merriconeag High School is located at 57 Desert Road. Tickets are $7 at the door.