The Game Is Afoot

Arts Live investigates Sherlock Holmes

With “Sherlock Holmes School of Mystery,” Fayetteville-based children’s theater Arts Live will add yet another script to its ever-growing list of original work. Penned by Executive Director Mark Landon Smith, the play takes place in a school for would-be detectives and is, says director Jules Taylor, a mix of comedy and mystery.

“A lot of the shows we do, especially those written by Mark, are wacky,” says Taylor with a laugh. “This one is a little more based in reality, but it is definitely funny.”

Taylor estimates that the theater company has around nine published original scripts now and hopes this one will make 10.

“When a script gets published, they put on the first page the original production, and they’ll list all of our kids’ names,” she says. “Mark’s plays are done internationally. It’s really exciting for our kids to have their names in scripts that are being produced internationally.”

Taylor says the large cast of 17 was not difficult to find, given the loyal following the theater inspires in Northwest Arkansas youth. She says involvement in the theater often ends up being a family affair.

“Sherlock Holmes” features strong friends who pull together to solve a problem, something Taylor says she sees mimicked in the relationships forged at Arts Live.

“One of the really beautiful things to get to see is these kids, a lot of the time they come here and they don’t know each other at all,” she says. “By the end of it, they’re life-long friends. You make the best friends through theater.”