★★★

“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.

REALLY GOOD EXPOSURE

Soho Theatre

★★★★

“Prescott’s writing is dynamic and light”

In ‘Really Good Exposure’, Megan Prescott charts the fictional Molly Thomas’ evolution from teenage starlet to porn star. Prescott, who appeared as Katie Finch in the hit teen series ‘Skins’ in the 2000s, draws on her own and others’ lived experiences of exploitation and grooming in the entertainment industry to address a plethora of issues: the sexualisation of minors, the financial barriers to the pursuit of a creative career, and women’s (lack of) agency in the commercialisation of their bodies. In doing so, the actor-writer weaves a compelling and intersectional, if somewhat didactic, web.

Prescott delivers a strong and self-assured performance, easily filling the stage at the Soho Theatre all by herself. Her portrayal of Molly Thomas alternatively as a child, a teenager, and a young adult feels sincere and consistent. In this, she is aided by Hattie North’s precise and extensive sound design, particularly the many recorded voices that Molly constantly converses with – her mother, her agent, a casting director. Recordings, of course, inherently don’t really ‘respond’ to a performer like a fellow actor might, underlining the unyielding nature of the characters’ demands of Molly. Additionally, the voices’ incorporeality (if I may) reinforces the central fact that the characters they portray all profit off of Molly’s body, and her body alone. Director Fiona Kingwill dresses Prescott in a bedazzled set of underwear even in the scenes from Molly’s childhood, allowing her to highlight continuities between sex workers’ costumes and what girls wear in dance competitions, for example. It’s touches like these that make the interplay between Prescott’s acting and Kingwill’s staging of the play feel refined.

However, Kingwill’s heavy dependence on tech sometimes takes away from the emotional punches the script delivers, particularly in the latter half of the play. Though Rachel Sampley’s lighting design is beautifully done, the videos she created to be projected to the back of the stage sometimes overpower Prescott, while montages of tweets and newspaper headlines felt unnecessary and teetered on cliché. The overreliance on tech is best illustrated by the effectiveness of a moment in which it is turned down: in a central scene, Molly is essentially forced to strip naked while auditioning to play a stripper. Her anguish comes across very well precisely because there’s no projection and the music is eerily quiet, as if being played in an empty dancing hall. Literally nude on stage, Molly comes across as ‘truly’ naked for the first time because she cannot hide behind loud music, stage lights, or projections.

Prescott’s writing is dynamic and light, though it loses some of its focus towards the end of the play, with the scenes in which Molly partakes in ‘Romance Reef’ (a.k.a. Love Island) feeling rather gimmicky. Additionally, the final monologue takes on an overly didactic tone. As Molly, Prescott essentially tells the audience how the show is meant to be interpreted, spelling out the message that sex work can be about taking control of your body and sexuality. It is a powerful and controversial stance in a world where sex workers are simultaneously portrayed as helpless victims and arbiters of immorality, but I wish Prescott had let her work speak for itself more. A layered piece about a divisive topic, ‘Really Good Exposure’ offers a night of thought-provoking entertainment.

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

REALLY GOOD EXPOSURE

Soho Theatre

★★★★

“Prescott’s writing is dynamic and light”