Sherlock Holmes and the
Curse of the Werewolf ...

By The Brothers Kaufman.

You might think we have a particular obsession with horror: adaptations of gothic classics Frankenstein and Dracula as well as 1998's Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of the Mummy, to say nothing of Proper Red Stuff: Deconstructing Jack the Ripper (the latter two both co-written with Martin Stiff - and yes, that is he real name!). But this current incarnation of the sleuth owes more to the likes of Monty Python, the Carry On films, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Goodies and Tintin than it does to the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Basil Rathbone or jeremy Brett

Good playwrights should never excuse their work, but we feel we owe an apology of sorts - Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of the werewolf is neither faithful to Conan Doyle's original, nor is it a rehash of Ken Hill's musical The Curse of the Werewolf which we have neither read nor seen. Purists might, no doubt, spot some similarities. Shelock Holmes adaptions have always played fast and loose with the crime-solving duo's esential characteristics. Who is to say that in 1933 Holmes and Watson hadn't become decrepit and 'past their best'?

They are still up for a bit of an adventure and, hopefully, you can go along with the spirit that this was intended.

1933. A series of mysterious deaths in the sleepy London suburb of Sydenham forces the ageing detective Sherlock Holmes and faithful sidekick Dr Watson out of retirement. But who amongst the motley collection of guests at the St Bart’s Church garden party is hiding a dark secret? The irascible and lovelorn colonel? The frustrated chairwoman of the Ladies’ Institute? The resolutely bachelor Hollywood heart-throb? The exotic and flamboyant gypsy entertainers? The new vicar? Or his beautiful young wife? Only Sherlock Holmes can have the answer..
 

Venue:
The Dolphin Gardens, Sydenham Road, London SE26
18/19/20/25/26/27 August 2009
2/3 September 2009

Picture Credit:
© Ann Pownall «www.annpownall.com»