Holmes hits the moors on stage
Play revels, but sometimes gets lost, in the moors of technical magic, writes Erika Thorkelson.
It’s rare that stage hands get to take a bow at the end of a play, but in the case of Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, their appearance seems entirely appropriate. The show, which opened the Arts Club’s 53rd season this week, revels in the technical side of theatre — the hard work that goes on behind the magic.
Based on the well-loved and oft-reproduced writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ken Ludwig’s adaptation follows the titular character and his devoted sidekick Dr. Watson to the wild moorlands of England in search of a giant hound that’s been taking out members of the wealthy Baskerville family.
This production takes its titular character’s use of Enlightenment methods of scientific inquiry to solve mysteries as an inspiration to perform a playful deconstruc- tion of the mysteries of theatre itself.
Of course, that makes the show sound a lot more serious than it is. Ludwig’s script is really a straightforward farce with a bit of mystery at the edges. It trades on little self-aware jokes, funny accents and a healthy dose of slapstick, relying on zaniness to bring fresh life to well-worn material.
Layered on top of the narrative in this production is an impressive array of theatrical tricks. The set by Arts Club mainstay Ted Roberts offers up quite a few surprises. Through lighting and projection, a few black screens become smoky train stations, the haunted moors at night and cobbled streets of old London. There are also a few 21st century twists on old-fashioned light puppetry.
Alex Zahara plays Holmes, not as the sexy, but haunted, young hero of the Benedict Cumberbatch variety, but as the classic egotistical genius with a flair for the dramatic who is so certain of himself that he throws a tantrum when he trips on the tiniest detail. As a counterpoint, Mark Weatherley is appropriately stiff-backed as Dr. Watson.
Lauren Bowler, Kirk Smith and Mike Wasko round out the rest of the cast, playing a wide range of characters, sometimes in the same scene. This is a play that asks a lot of its cast, and a few of the best moments arise out of the three’s attempts to switch costumes, makeup and characters in a matter of seconds. It’s just a shame some of their work gets lost behind special effects.
Don’t get me wrong — those special effects are often impressive — but it’s hard to become engrossed in a production that goes to such great lengths to distance the audience from its plot and characters. There are times when the projections are on the dark side, leaving sections of the audience struggling to make out what they’re seeing. The show plays its hand a bit early and becomes less impressive as the story goes along.
In the end, with all that technical wizardry at play, it felt like there could have been a little more genuine awe as a counterbalance, something to relieve the infinite boredom of reality, as Holmes himself might say.