Theatre / Reviews
The Accidental Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
What have you been doing since 5th January? Dieting? Dryathlon? If you’re feeling pretty pleased with yourself, consider that it was only then that three young actors began rehearsing for this show.
If that’s not impressive enough, it turns out that their performances are also jolly good, forming a perfect 50-minute shot of Victorian entertainment.
The play, written and directed by Christopher Cutting, is a comic homage to Sherlock Holmes, played earnestly in drag by Jasmine Atkins-Smart.
His sidekick Dr Watson (Thomas Parker) is the reporter of Holmes’ stories, writing for The Strand magazine. Faced with a cash shortage and rent to pay, Watson invents a new case for Holmes to solve. But there’s a twist: this time, Holmes is the murderer. With graphology, forensics and an encyclopaedic knowledge of drugs at his fingertips, the detective goes about enthusiastically following Watson’s clues – taking him straight to the first suspect, wine-swilling Sidney Strewthmate, also played by Atkins-Smart.
The hapless Watson can’t keep control of the narrative and it runs away with him, taking us all over London for encounters with butlers, paperboys, a shoe-shine boy, and the law.
That’s an apt cast for a Tobacco Tea Theatre production as they specialise in the ‘comedy of manners’ – satires chock-full of witty dialogue and characters that take off sections of society.
But behind the scenes lurks evil Moriarty (Josh Philips), who is desperate for his next hit of Watson’s fiction. Philips, who also plays the detective Lestrade, really finds his feet as the Napoleon of crime, clearly enjoying chilling the audience with his controlled gestures and deliberate delivery.
It’s only on for one more night at the Bierkeller but this show is a bargain at a fiver – and a fun alternative since Sherlock’s not on the telly. Now, where’s my pipe…
The Accidental Adventures of Sherlock Holmes finishes tonight (Monday 19 January) at the Bierkeller Theatre. For more info and to book tickets, visit bierkellertheatre.com
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