NJ Rep Presents THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, Beginning 4/19

New Jersey Repertory Company, located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch is proud to present the New Jersey premiere of the Steven Canny, John Nicholson British comedy, "The Hound of the Baskervilles". Directed by Mark Shanahan, the plays stars Wynn Harmon, Gary Marachek, and Rich Silverstein. Performances are April 19 thru May 27 and tickets can be ordered by calling 732-229-3166 or by visiting www.njrep.org.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" is a hilarious comedy about a rag-tag theatrical troupe traveling through the British provinces performing Arthur Conan Doyle's spine-tingling thriller. The three itinerant actors are faced with a formidable and seemingly insurmountable challenge when they have to conjure not only Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but a cavalcade of loony and sinister characters including the demonic hound from hell that has been knocking off the male heirs of the Baskerville dynasty for generations.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous writer and physician, gained notoriety as the creator of Sherlock Holmes and is considered to be the father of the crime fiction genre along with Edgar Allan Poe. Holmes made his first appearance in "A Study inScarlet" in 1887 and his character and that of Dr. Watson's so intrigued Victorian readers that Doyle's medical practice was eclipsed by the need to create ever more adventures for his intrepid and eccentric detective.

In 1893 Doyle decided to kill off Holmes by having him plunge off a cliff while grappling with his arch-nemesis, Dr. Moriarty, so that he could turn his attention to more serious writing and focus on his failing medical practice. However, the public clamored for their hero and Doyle was forced to resurrect Holmes who reappeared in 1901 in his most famous adventure, "The Hound of the Baskervilles." Although the desperate writer may have been able to ignore his devoted reading audience and tried to quash his hero permanently, he was unable to ignore his mother, who wrote in a letter to Doyle, "You won't, you can't, you mustn't!"

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" will entertain audiences with frenetic, side-splitting mayhem, barreling through the misty mires and deadly quick-sands of Dartmoor, and is a must-see not only for devoted Sherlock Holmes fans and devotees of mystery, but for all fun-loving theater goers.

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