The Accidental Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – C venues – C (Venue 34)
When Sherlock Holmes unknowingly murders his own client, the game is on to track down the criminal mastermind who did it – Holmes himself! But does Watson’s rent have anything to do with this accident? Has this case been secretly planned by a narrative genius? And could Moriarty’s hunger for new detective fiction fuel a global terror plot of unimaginable proportions? Satire maestros Tobacco Tea bring you this witty and absurd take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation for the second year running. Expect extraordinary plot twists, metafiction, twisted logic and almost unparalleled entertainment!
Okay, full disclosure here: we saw this play by mistake. I meant to book tickets for the Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes (at Just the Tonic, venue 27) but I messed up and and we went and accidentally watched the Accidental Adventures of Sherlock Holmes instead.
Was it a happy accident? Well… I loved the script. It was delightfully absurd from the start and, as the show went on, absurdity was heaped upon absurdity with witty and entertaining affect. It was performed with energy and the hour passed pleasantly…
…Yes, there’s a ‘but’ coming: it had an odd,unpolished feel to it. While none of the cast actually lost their lines at any point it felt like they were fumbling for them at points. Some of the comedic business felt a little under-rehearsed and…
Yes, there’s an ‘and’ coming: it felt like an odd choice to have a female actor playing Sherlock Holmes in this particular show. I know saying that is leaving me wide open in the wake of all the recent nonsense about the all-female Ghostbusters movie, but she played Holmes as male and the decision to cast a woman in the part didn’t, for me, add anything to the show. It didn’t help that I thought she was the weakest link in the three person cast. In fact it felt like someone had dropped out of the show at the last minute and they’d had to make do and mend with the actors available.
Don’t hate me, Caroline agrees. And she’s definitely female; I’ve checked. It was a pleasing enough, but it felt under-rehearsed and the casting of Sherlock stuck out like a sore thumb. Please go and see it, it was great fun and you may disagree with me entirely.
I’m right though, obviously.
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