With Halloween almost showing its terrifying face, this was our
opportunity to indulge in this classic, mysterious, and horrifying Sherlock
Holmes tale.
We
shadow Sherlock Holmes and his close friend/sidekick, Doctor Jane Watson on
their journey from the streets of London to the Devonshire Moors as they
attempt to solve the mystery of… The Hound of the Baskervilles. Two showman-like
and brave actors, from What A Farce Theatre, played every role in this fast paced
farce.
If you cross The Play That Goes Wrong with The Woman in
Black, you could interpret that as the basic theatrical underline for the whole
show. They were two actors struggling to tell a complex story with lots of
characters, this is where the humour came from. Everything became playful: intending
to lovingly mock Sherlock Holmes and his adventurous world.
There was a small cut out style set on the large Quays
Theatre stage, which looked rather odd. I’m guessing it must have been in a
smaller venue prior to this particular run. The 221B Baker Street set design
had an eccentric Victorian visual aesthetic. It looked like something out of a
cartoon pop-up book.
One significant question is: have What A Farce considered
who their target audience is? Much of the audience demographic were teenagers
or young people, presumably going to see it in hope it might help with their
English Literature studies, or maybe they are watching it for an educative
experience. The issue was, there were a lot of sexual innuendos and British
smut comedy throughout. This was clearly aimed at an older audience. On
reflection, it felt forced in to the production, it was like the sexual jokes
were there to acquire cheap laughs.
I’m all for a clowning show and a play that is intentionally
below-par. However, I argue there is such a thing as a poor version of an intentionally
below-par play. Sadly, this was the case here. The reason why was because the
underlying concept for the whole show appeared more central than the Sherlock
Holmes story itself. There was no even balance. This fast paced production
didn’t pause for breath. The complex story was narrated too quickly and there
was more talking than visual elements, which could have assisted in
communicating the narrative. Unfortunately, the world of Sherlock Holmes got
lost in the story’s moor fog.
Saying that, occasionally this production got big laughs,
but that wasn’t enough to make it an overall success. For example: the
desperate plea for the audience to come back after the interval was placed at
just the right time to uproarious effect. The high energy and melodramatic performance
from the actors works in the context. It was funny watching them struggle to
play all the characters and tell the story in the circumstance surrounding the
performance.
But, other audience members said, leaving the theatre, they
just couldn’t follow the original story. I looked at the poster and thought we
would be willingly suspending our disbelief to the world of Sherlock Holmes and
his story, instead it didn’t turn out that way. I just hope the audience around
me didn’t do the same as I did.
Reviewer – Sam Lowe
On – 28/10/18
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