Archives - April 2002

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, dramatised by Tim Kelly

Produced by Mike Liassides

THE PLAY

Period thriller, set in darkest Dartmoor. Sherlock Holmes is hired by Lady Agatha Mortimer, an old acquaintance of Watson's, to investigate the curse now haunting Sir Henry Baskerville. Taking the form of an enormous, flame-eyed hound, it has already been responsible for the death of Henry's father Charles from sheer fright - and now it is after the son! Holmes, of course, has no truck with such superstitious nonsense and sets out to solve the mystery forthwith, ably abetted by faithful assistant Dr Watson.

There are several other questions to be resolved along the way. Sir Henry's servants, the Barrymores, are acting suspiciously. So, too, is the aggressively nervous Mrs Laura Lyons. Then there is mercurial Jack Stapleton, brother to the delightful Kathy, whom Sir Henry wishes to marry.
Naturally, Holmes resolves them all. The Barrymores are sheltering Mrs Barrymore's retarded escaped convict brother. Laura was blackmailed into assisting with the preparations for Sir Charles' murder. Jack is, in fact, Kathy's husband and a distant relative of Henry's, eligible to inherit the estate. And Kathy is the mastermind behind the Hound - a huge Great Dane cross made into a terrifying monster with the aid of phosphorescent paint.

With the case solved, Holmes is off to the next, Watson trailing in the wake of his famous cry of "The game's afoot!".

FROM THE GROUP

The Sherlock Holmes Canon - first read when I was a mere schoolboy - still rank amongst my very favourite books, so this was a natural choice of play for me. It was a little surprising to find that not only was it the only Holmes dramatisation available, but it had been adapted by an American and set in the present day. Not unlike the US movie industry's treatment of Biggles, another of my childhood heroes...

Suffice it to say that the modernisation nonsense was thrown straight out and replaced with proper period Englishness! I was thinking more Basil Rathbone than Jeremy Irons; and for a time, I seriously considered putting on the production in black and white. It wasn't an especially well-received suggestion - there would have been an enormous amount of work in getting monochrome costumes and props and in getting the stage to look right painted entirely in shades of grey - so, in the end, I had to drop the idea. Maybe one day...

The other big consideration was casting. It always is, when the material is as well-known as this and yet the production still needs to reflect the character of the group staging it. In that, though, my actors did come up trumps. Ken and Dave made an admirable Holmes and Watson - although I'm sure Ken won't mind me saying that the role didn't come easily to him and there were a lot of hours of hard work on both our parts to get there. Emma was a superb villainess, spending most of the play being completely sweet and innocent and only revealing her true nature at the very end of the play. Clare debuted as the nervous maid, Perkins - and those were real nerves: luckily, the script called for her entrances to involve a lot of fearful trembling! Tim, as the no-nonsense, self-willed Sir Henry really blossomed into the part, assisted by solid, veteran performances from the supporting cast. As with all period pieces, the look is so important and Pam and Linda in Props and Costumes worked marvels. So, too, did Ann as prompt and general helper: fortunately hardly needed in her official role on the night!

The local press gave us a tremendous amount of publicity: one of the advantages of picking a really well-known title. It was justified, I feel - all in all, a very high quality and extremely satisfying production: one I am particularly proud of.
Mike - Producer

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