Review: MISS HOLMES RETURNS at Fells Point Corner Theatre
“Dangerous Women” Star in Iconic Roles
In the best way possible, Miss Holmes RETURNS is predictably Sherlock Holmes. And yet so much more—thanks to a recasting of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as women.
If you enjoy a good Sherlock Holmes mystery, you’ll want to see Walsh’s Miss Holmes RETURNS, written by Christopher M. Walsh, at Fells Point Corner Theatre because it’s better than simply good. Directed by Brad Norris, the production is funny and enthralling. Its engrossing whodunit plot and spectacular cast keep audiences mystified and at the edge of their seats throughout the production.
Miss Holmes RETURNS centers feminist issues and concerns through the lenses of England’s historic women’s rights movement. It’s a great backdrop for pioneering women characters who are ahead of their time.
On full display: immigrant rights, women’s suffrage, human tracking, and women’s body autonomy and agency. Miss Holmes RETURNS embodies fierce, protective, activist female characters dedicated to making Victorian England a more equitable, safe place for women. It’s an ingenious, gripping production with unexpected twists and turns—and a surprise ending.
It’s giving women rights are human rights and who better to fight for them than women themselves?
The production is a sequel to Miss Holmes, Walsh’s first production that introduced the Miss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson characters.
In this second production, Sharon Maguire and Emma Grace Dunbar reprise their lead roles as Sherlock and Watson, respectively. This time they’re looking for an elusive criminal named “The Professor.” Along the way they are drawn into a missing person case and, of course, a related murder. Maguire and Dunbar are a dynamic duo, adding depth, creativity, and strength to their roles. They also are delightfully comedic!
The play starts with the two at a murder scene with Geoffery Lestrade, the Scotland Yard Inspector played superbly by Dominic Gladden.
Inspector Lestrade fills them in on the developing case and the “foreign woman” seen fleeing the scene where influential banker Daniel Burke was murdered. Burke, played by C.C. Gallagher, had ties to organized crime and was a tenuous lead to “The Professor.” He was known for a hypocritical proclivity for prostitutes despite opposing the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, laws targeting female sex workers but not their male clientele.
Sherlock and Watson quickly deduce that Burke’s death is a case of self-defense rather than pre-mediated murder. They also contend that the female “victim” had medical experience. Inspector Lestrade is not as convinced that the woman is more victim than perpetrator. Sherlock promises to get her Knitting Circle, a loosely organized network dedicated to helping disenfranchised women, involved in the search for the “foreign woman”.
Many of the women characters in the production are motivated to be changemakers due to one persistent question: “If we do not help, who will?” That question plagues characters, but is also a challenge to audiences to critically look within for how they can be equally impactful today.
It’s also a question heavy on the mind of character Priya Singh, who audiences meet in the next scene. She’s a women’s rights activist and nurse, played exquisitely by Gaya Mundly. Priya is on the lam, running away after meeting up with and killing Burke.
Priya is a protégé and associate of character Josephine Butler, played compellingly by Christen Cromwell. Butler leads an advocacy organization called the Ladies’ National Association that is at the forefront of the fight to repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts. Being involved in such advocacy work on the behalf of sex workers makes Priya, Butler, and their associates despised by many in England, including others within the cast of characters.
The Butler character is a fictional depiction of a real-life women’s rights advocate of the same name. Miss Holmes RETURNS sheds light on Josephine Butler’s activism that contributed to the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts in 1886.
In the play, Butler hires Sherlock and Watson to find Priya when she discovers Priya is missing. They take on the case. Putting two and two together, Sherlock and Watson realize their missing person is the “victim” who killed Burke. But they understand why Priya fled an active crime scene. She is Indian—a.k.a. a “foreign woman”. Due to the racist, discriminatory times, she faces extra societal hurdles that make it nearly impossible to prove she’s a victim who resorted to self-defense out of necessity. (Walsh can be applauded for elevating an Indian woman's disappearance to the same level as a murder mystery investigation at a time when society held such little regarding for marginalized communities. Sure the two may be related, but it's a bold and courageous creative decision.)
Later, Inspector Lestrade learns the two are searching for his prime suspect, Priya. While Inspector Lestrade respects Sherlock and Watson’s crime-solving skills, he’s not quite convinced Priya acted in self-defense.
The production evolves as Sherlock and Watson search for Priya. But Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, played by Andy Belt, is determined to keep them focused on finding “The Professor” and away from that secondary investigation.
It’s a race against time to make sure an innocent woman is found and an elusive criminal is caught!
A sidebar to the active investigations and increasing dead body count is the astonishing fact the inspector may have a romantic interest in Sherlock. Scenes about that budding interest are both tender and humorous. But audiences should guard their hearts about any hoped for happily ever after between those two.
Meanwhile, botany-loving Adam Worthington, played by Lance Bankered, vies for Sherlock’s affections. But there’s more to his story and audiences are gagged as it unfolds.
Priya, Sherlock, and Watson ultimately meet up thanks to the protective assistance of the Knitting Circle. Unexpectedly, the Burke murder investigation then crosses paths with the search for “The Professor.” Characters are thrust into difficult—and sometimes deadly—situations that test Sherlock and Watson’s abilities to safely keep one step ahead of the unfolding mayhem.
As the play draws to a close, a dramatic, climatic showdown at a bridge over the Thames River brings Sherlock and Watson face-to-face with “The Professor” and unexpected outcomes. Audiences are riveted, holding their breath in a collective hush that is almost reverent.
By the end of the production, audiences are elated to see an ill-fated circumstance averted, women’s rights protests are still moving forward, and there’s a glimmer of hope for Priya.
Playwright Walsh has created an irresistible theater experience; Miss Holmes RETURNS is fun, suspenseful and thought-provoking. See it for the love of the genre or for the love of Sir Arthur Conan Dolye’s iconic characters. And don’t be surprised if you leave hoping Miss Holmes returns again as Walsh has written an irresistible theater experience that sparks interest in more of Miss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorthy Watson sleuthing.
Miss Holmes RETURNS continues at the Fells Point Corner Theatre, at 251 S. Ann Street through May 17th. Evening performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 and Sunday matinees are at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $24. Purchase tickets at FPCT.org or call the box office at 410-878-0228.
Reader Reviews
Videos