Review: HOLMES AND WATSON at Don Bluth Front Row Theatre

Will the real Sherlock Holmes please stand?

That’s the question in HOLMES AND WATSON, Jeffrey Hatcher's roller coaster of a whodunit that places Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fabled characters in an asylum…on a remote island off the coast of Scotland…shrouded in a mystery of identities. Curious?

Hold on! Before we get to the story…first, a word (or several) about the playwright and the play. Context is important!

Hatcher is one prolific creative. He has proved time and again the power of his pen (or keyboard) in creating made-for-theatre/film/TV stories and, in particular, adding novel twists to the Holmes canon. His advantage is twofold:

• a keen familiarity with the psyches and personas of Doyle’s characters, having written the screenplay for the 2015 film, Mr. Holmes, and the 2013 stage drama, Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club,
• a decidedly wicked aptitude for drawing convoluted and complicated narratives that tease and foil the theatre-goer’s mind.

Given these credentials, he was subsequently commissioned by Arizona Theatre Company to write a new Sherlock Holmes mystery. The result was HOLMES AND WATSON, which enjoyed its world premiere in 2017 at ATC. It was both the final production of the company’s 50th Anniversary Season and the conclusion of the 25-year tenure of its celebrated artistic director, David Ira Goldstein… replete with sophisticated set design, dynamic projections, and sound effects. It was a hit and has since gone on to be a Sherlockian favorite throughout the country.

Now, it has returned to Phoenix…and with a flourish.

Director Lee Cooley, notable for his award-winning turns as actor (HARVEY) and director (DEATHTRAP, HOW I CAME TO BE BUFFALO BILL, BEN BUTLER), has done an admirable and clever job in transporting and scaling the drama to the round in the intimate setting of Don Bluth Front Row Theatre.

Not content with the aura of suspense normally associated with detective story mindbenders, Cooley, endowed with a brilliant and wry sense of humor, has embellished the story with playful homages to Mel Brooks and puppetry. The sum effect is an entertaining and engaging romp towards an entirely unanticipated climax.

The play is complex, confusing, and circuitous, requiring the audience’s full attention. Cooley’s adroit direction of his actors ensures that even the best of an audience’s skills in observation, logic, and, analysis will fail to unravel the riddle. (The warnings, therefore, to the audience about not revealing the ending are fully warranted. This review obeys the rule.)

Now, to the story…or what we can tell of it.

Lights up!

As recounted by the supersleuth's assistant and chronicler, Dr. Watson, in Doyle’s ironically entitled The Final Problem, Holmes and his nemesis, Dr. Moriarty, fought and fell to their deaths at Reichenbach Falls. Variations of the story ensued; despite the obit, “frauds, fakes, and charlatans” appeared all over the world, claiming to be Holmes. It became Watson’s mission to either prove or disprove the claims.

Fast forward to the asylum where Dr. Evans (Matthew R. Harris), the attending psychiatrist, has invited Watson (Joe Kearns) to determine which, if any, of three quite peculiar inmates is (pardon the expression) the real McCoy. Between the examinations of the three pretenders to Sherlock’s identity, Watson and Evans joust to establish their respective authority and negotiate the rules for the inquiry. Both players give robust performances, circling each other like boxers in a ring.

The rest of Cooley’s cast (well-fitted in Teresa Knudson’s finely-tailored wardrobe) is in top form, with prisoners #1, #2, and #3 giving a unique slant to their roles. Holmes 1 (Tom Endicott) is polished and articulate; Holmes 2 (Adam Petzold), quirky and prone to crazy outbursts; Holmes 3 (Lynn Golden), just plain catatonic. Props too to Harmon Swartz as the Orderly and Cat Hartmann as the asylum’s matron for their hearty turns. (Marty Feldman and Cloris Leachman are smiling appreciatively from above.)

As the players’ accounts unfold, flashbacks to moments past are enacted by (drum roll, please!) dramatically clothed and combative puppets. Applause for puppeteer Rob Littlefield’s displays.

From beginning to climactic end, the production proceeds at a well-paced clip. Cooley and company have delivered the goods for an enthralling and engaging episode In the life (or death?) of Sherlock Holmes.

HOLMES AND WATSON runs through April 27th ~ Time: 1 hour 45 minutes with intermission.

Don Bluth Front Row Theatre ~ https://www.donbluthfrontrowtheatre.com/ ~ 8989 E. Via Linda, Ste 118, Scottsdale, AZ ~ 480-314-0841

Graphic credit to DBFRT

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