“The show must go on” we are told – but not when the stage lighting breaks, as it did on the opening night of Black Coffee at Devonshire Park Theatre on Monday.

It went down at 8.55pm and, following a 35-minute delay, it was announced that the performance could not continue, with replacement tickets and refunds offered.

What we did learn in the half we saw of Agatha Christie’s first play was that Robert Powell can portray super sleuth Hercule Poirot as good as, if not better than, David Suchet. Powell’s more sensible interpretation, moustache, attire and stance gave him greater credibility.

He gets the Belgian accent and mannerisms just right as he investigated the poisoning of inventor Sir Claud Amory (Ric Recate) and the theft of his explosives formula.

Lisa Goddard is superb and perfectly captures the eccentricities of Sir Claud’s sister Caroline to bring out the character’s humour. Gary Mavers, as suspicious Italian Dr Carelli; Ben Nealon (Sir Claud’s son Richard); Olivia Mace (Richard’s wife); and Robin McCallum (Captain Hastings) were also convincing.

A wonderful set helps director Joe Harmston capture the 1930s atmosphere but this dated, yet entertaining, play would have benefited at times from a faster pace.