Starting and ending at Baker Street, London, and largely set in Devonshire, England, circa 1889, this spoof of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic “The Hound of the Baskervilles” tells of super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes and trusty sidekick Dr. James Watson being summoned to investigate the unusual and unnatural death of Sir Charles Baskerville, whose corpse was discovered on the ground surrounded by giant paw prints. The actors and audience members journey together to the mansion and moors to answer the following three questions and unlock the mystery: What frightened Sir Charles Baskerville to death? Is the family the target of a robbery or an ancient curse? Is Charles’ young heir Henry being stalked by a human murderer or a supernatural hound?
With an ensemble of three terrific actors – Aimee Doherty, Jenny S. Lee and Sarah Morin – playing Holmes, Watson two of the Baskervilles and a dozen other characters (16 in total) and at least thrice as many wig and beard, hat and costume quick-changes and props galore, including a bubble-gum pink plastic gun, Central Square Theater starts off its 2024-2025 season with a bang.
As Sherlock’s sidekick, Watson, Lee wields her pink “weapon” in a whimsical way, shooting into the sky and across the stage and down the aisles at unseen creatures (birds, hounds) heard but not seen with steely concentration as well as childlike bang-bang-bang glee. (David Bryan Jackson deserves a shoutout here for sound design – tweets, howls, gunshots – that added a vintage “radio show” vibe). Lee’s Watson admires Holmes so much that she lights up with each morsel of positive feedback or sign of affirmation the famous detective sends her way.
Morin plays multiple minor characters with fabulous facial expressions, voice and speech – including accented language – impressively through a full bushy gray beard. Morin morphs her characters’ posture and body language masterfully, switching from hapless victims weighed down by life circumstances to a Henry Baskerville who’s in love and lighter than air, leaping, turning and dancing with ease and grace.
The iconic detective is played by Doherty, an actor, singer, dancer and multiple Elliot Norton and Independent Reviewers of New England award winner (for Best Actress in a Musical). We don’t get to see Doherty demonstrate her strong singing and dancing chops in this “straight” play, but her versatility as a character actor and flair for comedy are evident.
Besides playing Sherlock, a “master of disguise,” she dons a curly red wig, bushy black beard and period menswear to play other characters (who conveniently aren’t part of the storytelling when Holmes is on stage). She juggles canes, a platter with a turkey and trimmings, leaps across the very wide stage in a ballgown and redefines “horseplay” in a scene with a horse. Let’s add a fourth question to the aforementioned three: Is there anything actress Doherty can’t do (and what does she eat for breakfast)?
In the scenes in which two of the three actors were onstage (that’s six different combinations of Doherty, Lee and Morin) – in a taxi on bumpy roads, in a big bed – we are treated to masterclasses in acting with a scene partner. A scene with Sherlock holding a banana and Watson, hungry for food and connection, was priceless. Another memorable moment was watching Morin and an empty picture frame playing six family portraits in the mansion’s grand hall.
Central Square Theater’s artistic director, Lee Mikeska Gardner, directs the production and supports this tour-de-force trio in making the challenging character switches, different accents and comedic and physical acting look – well, elementary. Of note, Gardner is also listed as the understudy. If any one (or more) of the actors fell ill, that performance would be one for the books.
One twist in this story is that Sherlock, usually the main character and hero, is not in the spotlight. This point is driven home at the top of the show by the coy but growingly confident Lee in the “pre-curtain” remarks (when the actors are addressing the audience as themselves, not their characters). Lee introduces Watson as the lead character, to which Doherty (as Sherlock) responds with a look of surprise and annoyance. Through a broad smile and clenched teeth, she remarks to the audience, “Yes, the lead. Count the lines.”
The quartet of women leading this production also brings out some different aspects of the story from when it is played by three male-identifying actors – including at the same theater in 2011 when Remo Airaldi (Holmes), Trent Mills (Henry Baskerville) and Bill Mootos (Watson) did the honors in a production directed by Thomas Derrah. Characters in drag are still dominant and provide laughs, but it is not the man in a dress whom Henry lusts for and the audience is delighted by; women are playing roles written for men in menswear for most of the production. Also, theories about Holmes and Watson having a romantic relationship do play somewhat different with two women in the roles (back to the aforementioned banana scene). That being said, I would have definitely enjoyed Thursday’s audience conversation about how women were depicted in Doyle’s novels.
I also would have enjoyed seeing a set, and a show on a smaller stage might have increased the intimacy (and been less work for the actors). My plus-one (an old friend from Brazil) had some trouble discerning the accented speech; the decision not to use body mics for amplification in the theater’s cavernous space may have contributed to some of the difficulties hearing the dialogue. Would I like to see this again? Yes. Do I recommend it, and would I hound you to see it? No shit, Sherlock.
“The Hound of the Baskervilles” at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge, through Oct. 6.
A version of this story appeared originally on TheaterMirror.net.
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