A Study in Scarlet
Southwark Playhouse, March 21, 2014
Defying
the contemporary trend of updating Sherlock Holmes in television shows such as
‘Sherlock’ and ‘Elementary’, Tacit Theatre delivers Holmes’ first adventure in
Doyle’s original setting of Victorian London. With a cast of just seven actors,
Director Nicholas Thompson, uses double casting as a way to tell the two
stories going on, of both Holmes’ investigation as well as the events leading
to murder.
A Study in Scarlet is the title of Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel. Personally unfamiliar with
the novel, I can’t say how close the stage adaptation follows the text, but it
is easy to understand without the context of the novel. The play begins with
two pioneers in the US, a dying father and daughter, saved by a traveling group
of Mormons on their way to Utah whose only condition is that these two must
join their new religion. Then we are quickly transported to London, where
Watson meets Holmes for the first time, and is quickly dragged along to help
with the murder investigation of an American man. Over the course of the play
we see the story of the young girl and her father play out in this Mormon
community, while also watching as Holmes and Watson work to solve the murder of
two men from the aforementioned community in Utah.
We
first meet Philip Benjamin as a dust covered, smooth tongued Elder Drebber, leading
a community of ‘Latter-day Saints,’ or Mormons. His eyes are wide and alert, and
his vocal pattern carries a distinct drawl, oddly mechanical with a false air
of warmth within it. Then in the next scene, Benjamin appears as the errant
‘Consulting Detective,’ Sherlock Holmes. With a scarlet neck-tie, flourishing
gestures and a crisp English accent, he is able to differentiate between his
two roles perfectly. Also surprising us with his skillful playing of the violin
as Holmes, while also adding to the dramatic tension in a number of moments.
Rhys
King was also another actor displaying two very different characters in his
role as the deeply unsettling Elder Drebson, son of Elder Drebber, and then as
the bumbling Detective Gregson. Our first impression of King is that of the
wild-eye, trigger-happy Elder Drebson, suspicious of anyone outside of his
immediate circle. Later he appears as the confused detective who, funnily
enough, is investigating the murder of his other Drebson. It is a relief to see
King as the Detective after seeing him as Drebson, who’s wide and roving eyes
matched with twitching physicality are very unsettling in the small space of
Southwark’s aptly named ‘Little’.
This
was very much an ensemble piece though, with every actor playing an instrument,
even if it is just the Triangle by Edward Cartwright as Watson. Each actor
plays multiple roles, keeping the story clear with every new character very
distinct in voice and mannerisms. The design is that of a beautiful Victorian
House by Katherine Heath, who also made apparent the distinct differences
between dusty American Pioneers and stiff Victorian Londoners within the design
of the costumes. Theatre’s production of A
Study in Scarlet at Southwark Playhouse offers audiences a classic
retelling of Sherlock’s first adventure in the original setting with just as
much flare as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself.
