@ Dundee Rep, until Sat 23 May

Proudly advertised as the longest-running play in the history of British theatre, it’s now perhaps time for this rusty old timer to be put to rest. Agatha Christie’s murder mystery opened in London’s Ambassador Theatre way back in 1952 and to commemorate the play’s 60th year, a touring production has been travelling the UK bringing this popular show to the masses. Indeed, on opening night at the Dundee Rep’s week long stint, the play was a near sell-out but the average age bracket of the audience members was very telling.

This is an unapologetically old-school production, a slow burning murder mystery that revels in its setting. Indeed the set of the show is its most appealing aspect: set in a grand old home that has been recently turned into a guest house, the owners Mr and Mrs Ralston await their first guests as a snowstorm gradually cuts them off from the outside world. Meanwhile news of a murderer on the loose gradually becomes an immediate threat and everyone becomes a suspect. The intrinsic set design and period costumes help pave the way for what is likely to be a fine period crime tale.

Unfortunately the show is as creaky as the guest houses’ mahogany wall panels, a complete lack of tension and pace is rather unforgivable when delving into a murder mystery and that is perhaps the biggest crime in this show. The characters are either barely memorable or borderline insulting with hammy stereotypes in the case of the Italian Mr. Paravacini and the effeminate young man, Christopher Wren (although admittedly any hints of humour at least add a bit of colour to proceedings). When the final revelation is revealed of who the killer is, it’s done in such a nonchalant way it’s met with a rather haze of indifference from the audience. The production has some clumsy staging and broad acting styles; it feels more like an amateur production than one that has been celebrating such success in London. Whilst Christie gives a number of muddled backstories to the characters, in the end it doesn’t particularly warrant the request that we keep the secret of The Mousetrap safe. The biggest mystery of this show is, why has such a lacklustre, mediocre play been running for so long?