“Something to help one forget the everyday, humdrum routine of our mortal existence,” muses Sherlock Holmes in Spencer Theatre Company’s newest production, Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery. The show is loosely based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. No need to brush up on your early 1900s literature, though, as Ludwig takes a broad leap from the source material, reworking the mystery and melodrama into a snappy, absurd comedy with a purposefully pompous title. This play is less about the who-dunnit and more about the slapstick eccentricities and wordplay of its wacky ensemble.
“We wanted something fun for Halloween and a murder-mystery was the perfect genre,” Julie Staley, president of Spencer Theatre Company and the show’s producer, said. “Jerry Johnson, our director, and Jayson Albright, our creative director, both recommended Baskerville. I knew with their immense talent for comedy and their vast experience, this would be a perfect fit.”
A short synopsis: Sherlock Holmes, played by Mitchell VanZant, is called to solve a case about the male heirs from the Baskerville family who are being murdered one by one. Legends surface about a family curse and a monstrous hound, but Holmes must crack the case before the next male heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, is murdered. Guiding us through it all is Holmes’ crime-solving companion, Dr. Watson, played by Flynn Hanners, whose narration maintains the original voice from the novel.
Hanners said he is excited for this role. “We get to introduce Holmes and Watson to a brand-new audience who might want to learn more,” he said.
As they search for clues, Holmes and Watson run into gloomy mansions, storms on the moors, fogs on the bogs, and a slew of interesting characters – about 40 in all. The fun gimmick here, similar to Patrick Barlow’s Hitchcockian stage adaptation of The 39 Steps, that is the pair of protagonists are surrounded by three actors who portray everyone else. With an uncountable number of lightning-quick changes, accents, wigs and facial hair, Jayson Albright, Dan Wright and Emily Steele create a local population that’s three-dimensional and colorful.
Steele, who plays 13 different characters, found this hectic process fun. “I enjoyed working with other actors where we can feed off of each other’s creative energy and have the flexibility to be playful. If someone says, ‘What if we do this instead?’ we try it, and it’s great,” said Steele.
The play incorporates classic mystery tropes like hidden clues, red herrings and Holmes’ brilliant deductions, all while employing elements of farce, mistaken identities and over-the-top physical comedy. The audience gets to play along, trying to solve the mystery with the dynamic duo.
“It’s not traditional. It’s a comedy, a thriller and a mystery all rolled into one. It’s an edge-of your-seat kind of show, where you don’t already know the ending,” said VanZant. “People need laughter, especially with everything going on in the world. That’s the most rewarding part of this.”
The performers enter and exit with props and furniture, like a conveyor-belt of personalities, playing murder suspects, heirs to the Baskerville fortune and the inhabitants of the manor and surrounding area. There are clues along the way and a significant puzzle to untangle the truth, but it’s all in good fun.
“Baskerville combines a good old-fashioned mystery with a touch of the Three Stooges. It’s a great show for the whole family,” said Hanners.
Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery plays at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield Oct. 11-13 and at
Shilling Auditorium in Richland Community College in Decatur Oct.18-20. All
Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday performances at 3
p.m. Tickets can be purchased at spencertheatrecompany.com.
This article appears in Finding a way forward.
