The Arts Club Theatre Company’s 53rd season opened last week with the farce Baskerville – A Sherlock Holmes Mystery.
Based on the Arthur Conan Doyle classic The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Baskerville maintains the core of the mystery but delivers it as a fast-paced farcical comedy. As with most Holmes Mysteries, the story is narrated by the character of Dr Watson. played by Mark Weatherley, with Holmes played by Alex Zahara. Along with Holmes and Watson the play has 40 other characters, played by just 3 actors; Lauren Bowler, Kirk Smith and Mike Wasko. Whether planned or not, the play earned laughs when it let the audience see the imperfections in the rush to change from character to character. Reminiscent of The Carol Burnett Show’s “Went With The Wind”, the play didn’t quite deliver on the brilliance of that famed cast, that’s a hard legacy to follow, but Baskerville did elicit plenty of laughs from the audience throughout the performance.
Baskerville – A Sherlock Holmes Mystery runs until October 9th at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, then goes on tour through the autumn.