STAGE REVIEW : Golden West College’s ‘Black Coffee’ Proves a Bit Weak : The production of Agatha Christie’s first play suffers from staging difficulties and unrealized characters.

Agatha Christie fans may be interested in “Black Coffee” at Golden West College, if only because it’s one of the few plays featuring Hercule Poirot, the Belgian sleuth Christie created for her many mystery novels.

At Poirot’s side in this 1930 whodunit is Capt. Hastings, the detective’s usual man Friday. Even hapless Inspector Japp, another familiar Christie invention, makes an appearance. Add to this the fact that “Black Coffee” was the first play written by the prodigious author and the plot thickens for Christie die-hards.

Unfortunately, it’s a slow-moving production offered by GWC, one that makes mistakes in the basic presentation and prevents “Black Coffee” from having the needed kick to keep us savoring throughout.

The decision to stage this mystery--about the suspicious death of Sir Claude Amory (Robert Schmaltz III) and the swiping of his atomic weapons blueprint--in a theater-in-the-round setting is something of a mystery in itself. We gather evidence and follow character development from expressions and attitudes, but it’s not always easy to pick them up from the various vantage points.

Despite David P. Falzon’s detailed set, the staging results in blocking difficulties for director Steven Jay Warner, which results in accessibility difficulties for the audience.

The cast, with few exceptions, doesn’t always make the most of Christie’s characters, as usual a colorful lot with veneers of humor. The English accents are in place, but not much of the eccentric stylization that can make this type of antique more amusing.

Only Simone Slifman as the vivacious Barbara Amory and Eric Hansen as Hastings bring enough waggish impulse to the arch roles.

As for Poirot, Douglas L. Hartman is comical all right, but he doesn’t really meet our expectations of this grandly rich and, at times, insufferable character. Hartman portrays him as meticulous, as he should, but it’s more of a mincing mannerism than the manifestation of a precisely analytical mind.

‘BLACK COFFEE’

A Golden West College production of Agatha Christie’s play. Directed by Steven Jay Warner. With Gary Wos, Stephanie McCully, Marsha Clark, John McMillan, Simone Slifman, David A. Nelson, Frank Liddy, Robert Schmaltz III, Douglas L. Hartman, Eric Hansen and Kirk D. Brown. Set by David P. Falzon. Lighting by Leslie Barry. Sound by David Edwards. Costumes by Mary J. Yarosh. Plays (in repertory with Christie’s “The Mousetrap”) Friday and Sunday at 8:30 p.m. at the Patio Theater, 15744 Golden West St., Huntington Beach. Tickets: $6 and $7. (714) 895-8378.