THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES Launches New Vic 40th Anniversary Year
The comedy thriller is a witty reinvention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story.
New Vic Theatre will launch their 40th anniversary year with Joyce Branagh's new production of Steven Canny and John Nicholson's acclaimed adaptation of The Hound of The Baskervilles.
The comedy thriller, a witty reinvention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story, is directed by UK Theatre Award nominee Joyce Branagh and opens on Saturday 14 February. Rarely staged in-the-round, this new version reimagines the story, combining the atmospheric tension of the classic mystery with fast-paced theatrical invention and sharp humour.
First produced in 2007, Canny and Nicholson's acclaimed adaptation toured the UK before transferring to the West End. The New Vic's production offers a fresh take on the play, performed in the theatre's distinctive in-the-round space during the year that marks 40 years since the purpose-built New Vic Theatre first opened.
The production continues the New Vic's tradition of reworking classic stories for contemporary audiences, following recent successes including The 39 Steps and last year's The Grand Babylon Hotel.
The cast includes Alyce Liburd (One Man Two Guvnors, New Vic; Pride and Prejudice, Chester Storyhouse) as Watson; Jerone Marsh-Reid (Titus Andronicus, Royal Shakespeare Company, Charlie And Stan, Told By An Idiot) as Jay, the Stage Manager; Alex Phelps (Noises Off, Stephen Joseph Theatre; The School For Scandal UK Tour) as Sherlock Holmes, and Tom Richardson (The Prince and The Pauper, New Vic; Beauty & The Beast, Little Women, Salisbury Playhouse) as Sir Charles Baskerville. All cast members will also multi-role as other characters throughout the production.
Director Joyce Branagh said: “The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of the best stories in the whole of the fantastic Sherlock Holmes series, so this play has strong foundations of a brilliant plot - but then the writers have taken this this wonderful dramatic spooky story, and made it as gloriously silly as possible, like The Play That Goes Wrong or the recent 39 Steps. They've sent up all of the drama, with as many jokes as humanly possible. So we've got a great funny tight script to start with, and then we've got an amazing team working on this - actors who are funny in their bones - and with an amazing team off-stage too, creating the production that will have you on the edge of your seat one minute, then laughing your heads off the next, we're determined to leave no gag ungagged!”
