Tag Archives: Alastair Hilton

Sherlock Holmes And The Invisible Thing
★★★

Rudolf Steiner Theatre

Sherlock Holmes And The Invisible Thing

Sherlock Holmes And The Invisible Thing

Rudolf Steiner Theatre

Reviewed – 25th July 2019

★★★

 

“well written and highly entertaining, with plenty of wit and a pinch of whimsy”

 

Nearly a hundred years after the last Sherlock Holmes stories were published, it’s pretty amazing that he still thrives in contemporary culture, with a Hollywood franchise and a major television series to boot. This is certainly not a case of a forgotten character’s revival. But it seems we can’t get enough of the eccentric detective, and ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Invisible Thing’ is a welcome addition to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ongoing legacy.

Sherlock Holmes and his trusty side-kick Dr. Watson are called to the house of one Miss Lucy Grendle, to solve the murder of an unknown man, pushed in to the lake by “unseen hands”, as observed by an anonymous witness. The perfect mystery for a virtuoso such as Holmes. The play, written by Greg Freeman, unfolds to reveal most of the trappings of a Conan Doyle whodunnit, with scatterings of red herrings, seemingly tenuous pieces of information linking neatly together, and a farcical undercurrent. The final reveal, however, leaves the audience wanting. Without giving too much away, Freeman provides plenty of intrigue and suspense, but seems at a loss with how to satisfactorily explain an “invisible thing”.

Stephen Chance’s Sherlock is fairly sombre, but whilst we’re missing a little vigour, he captures Holmes’ knowing smugness and condescension flawlessly. Vanessa-Faye Stanley (Lucy Grendle) combines a Victorian seriousness with slight melodrama, providing plenty of nuanced physical comedy amongst a well fleshed-out performance. Philip Mansfield makes for a charming, if slightly hammy Dr. Watson. Doug Cooper, playing the part of the bumbling local police inspector, gives an adequate performance, though he leans a little heavily on a cockney accent to give flavour to his character. Imogen Smith, playing the put-upon house servant, though she says little, has a weighty presence.

The set (Leah Sams) is fairly traditional – a Victorian style living room with lots of dark wood, heavy wallpaper and renaissance paintings. But there’s enough to keep the audience engaged, without distracting.

Director David Phipps-Davis clearly knows that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s formula is a winning one; there are no modern bells and whistles, beside a welcome strand of potential romance for the private detective. Whilst the usual flawless narrative logic of the Sherlock Holmes stories is slightly lacking here it’s still well written and highly entertaining, with plenty of wit and a pinch of whimsy.

 

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Alastair Hilton

 


Sherlock Holmes And The Invisible Thing

Rudolf Steiner Theatre until 18th August

 

Previous shows covered by this reviewer:
Operation Mincemeat | ★★★★★ | New Diorama Theatre | May 2019
The Millennials | ★★½ | Pleasance Theatre | May 2019
Hotter | ★★★★★ | Soho Theatre | May 2019
Dark Sublime | ★★★ | Trafalgar Studios | June 2019
Garry | ★★★ | White Bear Theatre | June 2019
Pictures Of Dorian Gray (A) | ★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | June 2019
Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare: Hamlet | ★★★ | Leicester Square Theatre | June 2019
The Knight Of The Burning Pestle | ★★★★ | Barbican | June 2019
Rust | ★★★★ | Bush Theatre | July 2019
Oddball | ★★★½ | King’s Head Theatre | July 2019

 

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Carl's Story

Carl’s Story
★★★★

Tabard Theatre

Carls Story

Carl’s Story

Tabard Theatre

Reviewed – 14th March 2019

★★★★

 

“Miller has crafted a fine piece of writing, peppered with Wildean witticisms”

 

Newspaper journalist, Annie, is in a dilemma. She is on the cusp of a major sting and under pressure from her editor to run with a story based on illegal phone hacking. Taking the moral high ground, she refuses. Meanwhile, on the home front, she is ‘hacking’ into her husband’s phone on a daily basis to read his messages. “Carl’s Story” is full of contradictions such as this. To be human is to be hypocritical, and vice versa. Writer and director Gavin Miller does not shy away from admitting we are all flawed, as he challenges our views on guilt, fidelity, friendship, family and, most poignantly, truth itself.

Set in an Art Club café, the fourth wall is broken from the outset in this hybrid of a show; a mix of monologue, duologue and dialogue. A mix of toilet humour and kitchen sink drama where moments of sharp comedy inform home truths. Miller has a particular knack of handing us the wrong end of the stick and his skill as a writer allows us to piece together the story, and backstories, bit by bit, until we twig. The only drawback, however, is that the sometime slow pace eventually allows us to overtake and to see the plot twists coming.

Annie (Jenny Whiffen) has chosen the art café to meet up regularly with best friend Beth (Emma Bernbach) to discuss the nitty-gritty of life’s (and their own) affairs. During these, often wine-fuelled tête-à-têtes, Annie offers up her husband, Carl, for a romantic fling with Beth. But not in front of Annie’s headstrong, moody daughter (Lucia Dean) who uses the café to do her homework. When Beth’s ex-husband (Tommy Carter) appears, dark secrets come to the surface and the two women’s friendship is called into question. “I never lied to you” quips Annie, “I just didn’t tell you the whole truth”.

Whiffen and Bernbach both feast on the dialogue and chemistry between these two strong yet vulnerable women, giving perfectly pitched, natural performances; while Dean thankfully avoids the ‘Ab-Fab’ pitfalls with her lively portrayal of the all-knowing, mocking teenage daughter. Carter imbues compassion into the ex-husband who initially appears to have an unsavoury past. It is no give-away to reveal that Carl never shows up in his own story, though he is always in the foreground. His story touches all the characters’ lives with a poignancy that ultimately touches us.

Miller has crafted a fine piece of writing, peppered with Wildean witticisms for the TV Sitcom era, and fine-tuned by a very watchable cast. Without knowing it we are lured into looking inside ourselves. We are all guilty of blurring the distinction between ‘telling a lie’ and ‘not telling the truth’. A subtle differentiation, that we all too often use to our advantage when it suits. But this play goes deeper than that; it looks beyond the dysfunction, the compromises, the divisions and disloyalties that can fracture a friendship or a family in a stroke. Its truth lies in its sad yet unsentimental coda; that life is too short for all that ‘what-is-truth’ nonsense.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by  Antonia Bordoy and Alastair Hilton

 


Carl’s Story

Tabard Theatre until 30th March

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
The Lady With a Dog | ★★★★ | March 2018
Sophie, Ben, and Other Problems | ★★★★ | April 2018
Sirens of the Silver Screen | ★★★ | June 2018
Sexy Laundry | ★★★ | November 2018

 

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