THEATER REVIEW : ‘Murder on Nile’ Coasts on Conversation : Westminster Community’s well-dressed cast makes the talk work in Agatha Christie’s character play, but the production is barren.

“Murder on the Nile” follows many of the formulas that have made its author, Dame Agatha Christie, the traditional queen of murder mysteries. Isolate an eccentric collection of humanity from the world, kill one of them and give everyone else a motive for murder.

In Christie’s most popular plays, “Ten Little Indians” and “The Mousetrap,” she gives us not one victim, but a whole series of them. The characters are murdered one after another, and it is a matter of survival to discover the killer.

“Murder on the Nile” is a rather different stage animal. It’s a play about the characters rather than the crime. There is a murder, of course, but more than anything else, there is a great deal of talk.

The Westminster Community Theatre production of “Murder on the Nile” is modestly successful at making the talk interesting, thanks largely to a cast that is clear-spoken and well-dressed in designer June Steneck’s classy black-and-white costumes.

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Steneck’s costumes definitely suggest the ‘40s, but the black-and-white production design backfires with the set, which is visually and dramatically barren. The story is set on the observation deck of a paddle steamer going down the Nile, but the heat and the scenery are only talk: The production never leaves Orange County.

Director Marc LeBlanc’s staging is arid enough. There’s nothing to do on this observation deck except to talk. Consequently, movement is awkward, motivated by sight lines rather than action. Even the drinks are brought in from offstage by the steward (played by Bill Meadows in the one performance that is touched with a sense of humor).

The net result is a rather sleepy evening, roused by a few gunshots. The real firepower of the play, waiting to be triggered into blazing looks and deadly innuendo, is still lurking, undetected, in all that talk.

* “Murder on the Nile,” Westminster Community Theatre, 7272 Maple St., Westminster. Friday and Saturday, 8:30 p.m.; matinee Jan. 30, 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 5. $7 to $9. (714) 527-8463. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. Bill Meadows Steward

Renee Oran: Miss ffoliot-ffoulkes

Claudia Ehrhardt: Christina Grant

Edwin D. Schuyler: Smith

Susan Meylor: Louise

Bob Goff: Dr. Bressner

Alison Boole: Kay Mostyn

Philip Lance: Simon Mostyn

Edward J. Steneck: Canon Pennefather

Lisa Harvey: Jacqueline de Severac

A Westminster Community Theatre production of the Agatha Christie mystery. Produced by Sandi Newcomb and Edward J. Steneck. Directed by Marc LeBlanc. Costumes: June Steneck.