Review: KEN LUDWIG’S BASKERVILLE: A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY at New Jewish Theatre is a Hilarious Whodunit

It would be easy to rave about the five actors giving all-in, untethered comedic performances in Ken Ludwig’s BASKERVILLE at New Jewish Theatre. Their next level portrayals are fearless in their amusing imbecility. But, raving about the cast without acknowledging Nisi Sturgis’ masterful direction would be shortchanging her creativity and ambitious efforts telling Ludwig’s fast-paced farce.

Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery is Ken Ludwig’s spoof based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hounds of the Baskerville. The comedy caper features a cast of five actors. Two play the single roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, while the other three actors take on 40 over-the-top, exaggeratedly zany characters.

Ludwig’s play is ripe with opportunities to mine laughs from the poppycock in the script. Sturgis’ imaginative direction and blistering whirlwind pace creates a playground for her five talented actors to entertain the audience. There’s no way to know how much of the action comes from the stage direction written into the script versus the directorial choices made by Sturgis, but she mines more laughable gems than a prospector wielding a pickaxe.

Sturgis choreographs movement that is filled with precisely timed slapstick, pratfalls, high jinks, and shenanigans. She grants her actors permission to play. The five thespians throw themselves into their roles, around the stage, and onto the audience with reckless abandon. She gives them license to improvise, and each grabs the opportunities to break the fourth wall, ad-lib, engage with the audience, and win laughs.

Baskerville is an ensemble acting piece. Nick Freed’s Sherlock Holmes is an always-right, likeably smug, self-assured investigator. He’s confident he can solve any case and is always a step ahead of Doctor Watson’s bumbling incompetence. Freed makes a handsome, debonair sleuth. He plays Holmes as a cheeky straight man in a wink-nod fashion. He’s in on the joke but is rarely a part of the joke.

Bryce A. Miller’s Doctor Watson is the clumsy, inept, blundering second banana. He’s the   narrator and the chief investigator who engages with the many characters created by the other three actors. Miller’s line delivery and athletic physicality are hilariously funny. He is immensely likeable and is onstage nearly the entire time flaunting his awkwardness. Both he and Freed speak in an authentic sounding British accent that they maintain for the entirety of the show.

Alicia Revé (Actress One), Sean C. Seifert (Actor One), and John Wilson (Actor Two) have the heavy lift. The three rapidly change from character to character, each filling a dozen roles or more. They change costumes and accents with lighting fast speed. Revé and Seifert switch back and forth between Queen’s English to Cockney and Irish brogue. Seifert adopts a deliciously ridiculous Spanish Castilian accent as an innkeeper/front desk clerk and Revé a Madeline Kahn/Cloris Leachman-esque German accent that drips in Mel Brooks influence. They’re outrageously funny with Protean versatility.

Lauren Roth is an unsung hero for her work as dialect coach. She gets full credit for the consistency in characterizations driven by the variability in accents. It had to be a major undertaking to ensure the actors’ continuity in line reading.  

Wilson charms as the boot wearing oafish Texan who’s arrived in London to claim his rightful inheritance. The heir charms and delights both his love interest Beryl Stapleton and the audience. He’s a no-nonsense good ole’ boy with a big heart. Wilson beguiles with his southern drawl and his western appeal. He’s at his humorous best when he quick switching between two roles with a jacket hanging off one shoulder using a costume piece to delineate between characters.

 Michelle Friedman Siler’s costumes are chef’s kiss! They alone are a reason to buy a ticket for Baskerville. Not only are they creatively designed, expertly crafted, and meticulously tailored, but their engineered functionality is mind-blowing. The way they facilitate quick change is astounding – and there are plenty of quick changes throughout Baskerville. 

Kudos to the dressers, stage managers, stagehands, and props team for their Herculean efforts to ensure the actors, mobile set pieces, and props are readied for the next scenes. Rieko Huffman’s seemingly minimalist scenic design is anything but simple. Her moveable set pieces roll on and off stage to create whimsical cartoon-like settings for nearly 30 scenes. Huffman’s set designs are every bit as functional as Siler’s costume designs.

Victoria Deiorio’s original music and sound design, complimented by Ethan Foss’ sound recreation, establishes mood that enhances the productions levity. The actors’ dialogue is heard from offstage as they move from one end of the theater to the other. The dynamic dialogue and sound effects engulf the audience while it traverses the theater with the actors.  

Nisi Sturgis’ Baskerville is a wacky whodunit. The madcap mystery is filled with riotous performances from a talented cast breaking boundaries with bold artistry. Alicia Revé and Sean C. Seifert are revelations. Their presence is more than scene stealing because their every moment on the stage is unforgettably funny. The entire acting troupe commits to absurd physical dynamism with athletic intensity to land every joke possible. Baskerville at New Jewish Theatre is a fun, fast, and frenzied good time.

Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery continues at the New Jewish Theatre through December 7, 2025.  Click the link below to purchase tickets or visit newjewishtheater.com for more information.