25 – 29 January
Famous for his forensic brilliance, his apparent lack of an emotional life, and for his eccentricities, Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed countless times and in a great variety of ways, but seldom has he been seen as a source of slapstick fun. Then in 2007 Steven Canny and John Nicholson set out to create an adaptation of Conan Doyle’s classic tale based upon ‘a determined commitment to stupidity’. Originally performed by the theatre company Peepolykus, and featuring just three actors, it was a great success. This revival, directed by Lotte Wakeham comes to us courtesy of the Original Theatre Company and the Octagon Theatre Bolton. A spectacular backdrop by David Woodhead featuring a gothic manor house set on bleak moorland proves to be this show’s sole concession to gritty realism, for this version of The Hound Of The Baskervilles is unashamedly very silly.
Last night’s performance began with an on-stage announcement that the curse of Covid had necessitated late changes in the casting, with Fred Gray being brought in to play Dr Watson, and Niall Ransome, the show’s original Watson, taking on the role of Holmes. That announcement was followed by the cast applauding the audience for coming, and the audience being invited to applaud the cast for their resilience and adaptability. In these difficult times this temptation to be self-congratulatory is very understandable, but it all makes for a slow start to the show. Indeed, much of the first half was not perhaps as sprightly as it could have been, but this may be because two-thirds of the cast were yet to settle comfortably into their new roles.
Once the tale properly gets going there’s a great deal of verbal tomfoolery, and some truly dreadful punning. Ransome and Gray have a great deal of fun with the homoerotic undertones of Holmes and Watson’s relationship, and Serena Manteghi invests Sir Henry with bucketloads of aristocratic heartiness, though not the required Canadian accent, confessing that she can’t do one! The complex plot is delivered in quickfire, highly energised fashion, and with three actors taking on its multiplicity of characters a great deal of the comedy arises from desperately rapid costume changes and the imaginative use of a variety of simple props. The action is slickly choreographed, and accompanied by splendid sounds effects and atmospheric lighting, designed respectively by Andy Graham and Derek Anderson. We hear the hound, but disappointingly it never appears through the fog, of which there is lots.
The desperate rapidity of the action is cranked up to maximum speed at the beginning of the second half, where a supposed criticism from someone in the audience requires the cast to race through the whole of the first half again, in about two minutes. Act Two has the best of the comedy, with Niall Ransome playing a bewildering variety of roles, including butler Barrymore with a gloriously unconvincing beard. Best of all is his portrayal of Latin beauty Cecile, who may or who may not be the sister of the murderous Stapleton. Cecile’s passionate tango with the enamoured Sir Henry is a highlight. Another memorable moment occurs when Dr Watson attempts to revive a mortally injured escaped convict with some over-enthusiastic resuscitation techniques. The dead convict is played very convincingly by a stuffed dummy.
This version of The Hound Of The Baskervilles will do little to enhance the literary reputation of the original novel, for amid all the comic mayhem the far-fetched nature of the tale is laid bare. There was always something more than a little absurd about the Sherlock Holmes stories. Conan Doyle was aware of this, and grew to resent Holmes’s popularity. Wanting to be taken as a writer of more substantial stuff he killed Holmes off, only to be compelled to bring him back to life after a public outcry. The great detective is brought to life again in this show, which takes a little while to get into its stride, but ultimately offers a great daft dollop of thoroughly enjoyable spoofery.
★★★☆☆ Mike Whitton 26th January
