Kinetic unleashes howling good ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
You don’t have to be the world’s greatest detective to deduce that Sherlock Holmes, in all his literary glory, constitutes a parody waiting to happen.
The British comedy troupe Peepolykus was operating not just on the theory that parody is the sincerest form of flattery, but also took to heart the motto “go big or go home” when it created this punny, outrageous and oh-so-meta version of “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” now being perpetrated by Kinetic Theatre.
The three-man show employs some of Pittsburgh’s brightest lights of the stage — David Whalen, James FitzGerald and Connor McCanlus — to incorporate elements of the Sherlock Holmes story we know and to huff and puff and blow down the fourth wall.
It is the fun and the wackiness of this “Hound” that when Sherlock switches to David, or Dr. Watson to Jim, or Henry Baskerville to Connor, the actors are spoofing themselves as much as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s familiar characters.
Mr. Whalen, in particular, explodes the “leading man”/“greatest detective” stereotypes with gusto. He racks up a half-dozen characters, including the only females in the show, and has a blast either lording his Sherlockian superiority over Watson or as Cecile Stapleton, who wins Henry’s heart.
The first act ends with a seeming second mystery to solve and begins with a social media gag that sets the action in a different direction — let’s just say it moves apace, so as not to give too much away.
If you are a frequent Pittsburgh theatergoer, you know the work of Mr. Whalen and Mr. FitzGerald — both are Post-Gazette Performers of the Year, with Mr. FitzGerald so honored most recently for playing an evil man, twisted in mind and body, in PICT’s “Sharon’s Grave.”
Watching the two of them go hard for laughs is part of the fun of “Hound.”
Mr. McCanlus is easily one
$36; showclix.com, 1-888-718-4253 or www.kinetictheatre.org. of Pittsburgh’s most versatile actors, having just played a multi-role gig in CLO Cabaret’s “First Date.” In fact, this trio could fit nicely into the most recent CLO Cabaret production, “The 39 Steps,” an inventive show that came to mind immediately.
Like that show, which harks to many a Hitchcock movie, this one keeps up with the original “Baskervilles,” an Arthur Conan Doyle pageturner about a cursed family being picked off one by one at its ancestral home on the moors. Without giving away too much, it also brings to mind another show with actors in multiple roles, the Tony-winning “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.”
Andrew Paul directs the mayhem to a fever pitch, within a tight, vaudevillianstyle set designed by Johnmichael Bohach. Lighting (Jenna Ferree) and sound (Nicholas Erickson) are essential elements, and both were near flawless on opening night Saturday.
Props are few, but watch the various ways a picture frame or a suitcase in adept hands can make a scene. The jokes reach high and low — for example, Sherlock convinces a downtrodden Watson that “You are my torch … keep yourself turned on for me” — but amid all the silliness, the story is told to its conclusion.
Watson, at one point, delivers a chain reaction of dog-related puns. It’s one of many cues to unleash your imagination and howl at the “Hound.”