One Evening, Two Of The Classic Tales
The Shawnee Theatre is presenting Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. Playwright Stephen Dietz has combined two of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories "The Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Final Adventure" into this Edgar Award winning Drama.
The combination allows Dietz and the company to play with the delightful possibility of the royally jilted opera star Irene Adler played by Lisa Ermel from the earlier story continuing to both fascinate and baffle the great detective. The playwright has also felt free to mix Holmes' arch enemy Professor Moriarty played by Kevin Guthridge into Adler's story along with his own part in the second climactic tale. Dietz has full grasp of the Holmes canon and he adds little gems from other stories as well.
The Two Friends And A Verminous Villain
As in the original stories, Holmes' companion Doctor Watson, played with engaging humanity and involvement by Josh Carroll, carries the narration from scene to scene. Holmes himself is sometimes a bit hard to understand, but none the less played with panache by Ronnie Johnstone. Another outstanding member of the cast is Harry Watermeier who does a fine job as Professor Moriarty's rat-like henchman, Sid Prince.
One of the highlights of the evening is a very complex fight scene that Director Matt Graber brings off with stop motion scenes that are tantalizing if a bit too quick to fully enjoy. The drama actually seems a bit over filled for the evening, but Graber keeps the action varied and moving.
Sometime The Joke's The Thing
Although Sherlock Holmes:… is a mystery drama, I particularly enjoyed the humor of the show with the warm jesting, first between Holmes and Watson and later among the two men and the quick witted Adler.
The Shawnee Theatre's production of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure continues with evening performances Friday and Saturday the 23rd and 24th and a final matinee on Sunday the 25th.