★★★

“a funny show that does a fine job in entertaining its audience”

It’s clear from the moment actor Tendai Humphrey Sitima comes onstage and welcomes us with his improvised prologue that this is no ordinary Sherlock Holmes narrative. It’s wacky, whimsical and most importantly, it takes place post pandemic. Writer Kate Hamill transports us to…today and brings out a fresh dynamic between the infamous duo of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, whose genders have been swapped to female.

Dr. Joan Watson finds herself in a transitional period and is somehow convinced to live with Holmes, a manic and eccentric consulting detective. For Holmes, everything is a puzzle that needs to be solved and she invites Watson in a world of clues, puzzles and mystery. Other well-known characters from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories appear, like Mrs. Hudson, Irene Adler, Lestrade and of course, Holmes’ nemesis, Moriarty. Nothing is what it seems as we join Holmes and Watson in a chase that leaves us breathless.

The relationship between Holmes and Watson has a playful quality and an underlying romantic element, which is never fully acted upon. This is for the best, as the two hours and thirty minute run is not enough to introduce to us to the adapted world, the newly fleshed characters, unpack two mysteries and explore a potential romantic layer in the relationship of the titular characters. It already feels overcrowded and at times tiring, especially towards the end where everything is laid out and plot twist after plot twist are revealed.

Holmes, played by Lucy Farrett, is a ball of peculiar energy, has a flair for the dramatic and uses big gestures with intensely comic facial expressions. It’s an interesting interpretation, but it ignores the character’s genius and leans more to high-stakes comedy. Watson, played by Simona Brown, doesn’t seem to diverge from the same level of tension and frustration with everything that’s happening and Holmes’ behaviour. Tendai Humphrey Sitima and Alice Lucy complete the rest of the cast, playing multiple characters; they both gain laughter from the audience, but the multi rolling gets a tad dull in its overplayed boldness.

Under Sean Turner’s direction, this modern adaptation is what I imagine the movie Clue would look like if the actors were trained in Commedia dell’arte. The physical comedy is entertaining, but there are moments where it feels forced and stagnant. It’d be interesting to see some more variation to help the audience keep up and be genuinely surprised by the script.

One of the most exciting aspects of this production is the hyper-realistic set, an intriguing clutter of items, secret entrances and two levels that provide a visual enhancement to the story. Set designer Max Dorey didn’t hold back and the complicated stage configuration could also be a physical representation of Holmes’ idiosyncratic brain and unusual thought processing. Lighting, by David Howe, and sound, by Hattie North, help immensely with the different locations, as well as with highlighting the comedic tone of the narrative.

It’s a funny show that does a fine job in entertaining its audience, without the need to be particularly familiar with the source material. Yet, there is a lot going on, from the witty jokes, the constant moving around and surprises that seem to never end, and you can’t help but feel exhausted by the time the show ends.

RAGDOLL

Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★★

“a highly watchable cast, delivering line after line of snappy dialogue”

Katherine Moar’s “Ragdoll” is inspired by the trial of Patty Hearst – the heiress turned actress, kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s who was later convicted of working with them and being charged for armed robbery. Her defence lawyer, Francis Lee Bailey, lost the case despite putting forward the fact that she was coerced into it by her captors. Although the names have been changed, there is little to separate the fictional characters from the real-life ones (even the SLA is namedropped). So ‘inspired by’ is probably an understatement. The disguise is a very thin veil. There is no disguising at all, however, the sharpness of Moar’s writing in her thoughtful, thought-provoking, ingeniously structured and punchy new play.

The narrative is split between two pivotal points in the lives of our protagonists. In the late seventies, Holly (Katie Matsell) is awaiting trial for her role in the armed robberies. Her hotshot lawyer, Robert (Ben Lamb) sees it as a case to project his career into the major league. There is a lot of media attention, some of it unwanted and unwarranted. Robert has his own distractions, too, mainly in the shape of a hack journalist out to smear his name. We first meet the couple in the present day. They are estranged by now, but Robert (Nathaniel Parker) is calling in a favour from Holly (Abigail Cruttenden), hoping she can bear witness to his character and help clear him of allegations of an ‘inappropriate nature’. Holly is naturally resentful – having been ghosted and abandoned by Robert decades earlier. We are aghast at Robert’s confidence that borders on arrogance. Tensions and stakes are high, and emotions rise even higher, tempered by moments during which Moar leads us gently into ‘odd-couple’ comedy territory.

We never drift into familiar territory, however. Even if sometimes we think we might be heading that way. Whenever that happens, Moar repeatedly sticks the knife in with a twist, forcing us to look at things in a different way. The two time periods are separated, until further twists reveal how great and significant the overlap is between past and present. A fascinating dramatic device is at play here, which the cast pull off masterfully.

The characters are undoubtedly privileged but are played with a compassion that arouses our sympathy. Matsell’s nervous idealism as the younger Holly turns into the fury and resignation that Cruttenden portrays with a bubbling, volcanic strength. Lamb, as the rising star of the courtroom, hasn’t yet had his smooth confidence worn away by the knocks to his career, while Parker’s present-day Robert, however, clings onto this self-conviction by a thread. They are both victims in a way. Victims of changing times and attitudes as much as circumstance. “If I had died, people would like me more” quips Holly in retrospect, thankfully without sentimentality. Josh Seymour directs with a tight hand on the oscillating structure: the actors watching their other selves, engaging and reacting. Ceci Calf’s simple set, strewn with packing cases, is dominated by an expensive, cream leather sofa, rich in symbolism.

This is only Moar’s second play, but the dialogue has a veteran’s finely-honed shrewdness and insight, offering peep holes into social history as well as the human condition. Its context is specific, but the questions raised are far reaching. With a highly watchable cast, delivering line after line of snappy dialogue, “Ragdoll” is an absolute joy to watch. We barely have time to think about what we are supposed to be thinking about – there’s time to do that on the tube journey home. We know, though, that we have been in the presence of a writing talent to keep an eye out for.

MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT 2B

Arcola Theatre

★★★

“a funny show that does a fine job in entertaining its audience”

MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON – APT 2B

Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on 1st December 2025

by Stephanie Christodoulidou

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MS. HOLMES

MS. HOLMES

MS. HOLMES

RAGDOLL

Jermyn Street Theatre

★★★★

“a highly watchable cast, delivering line after line of snappy dialogue”

RAGDOLL

Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 14th October 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

RAGDOLL

RAGDOLL

RAGDOLL

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