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A Sherlock Carol

★★★★

Marylebone Theatre

A SHERLOCK CAROL at the Marylebone Theatre

★★★★

“one of the cleverest and most entertaining of the current festive productions”

Sherlock Holmes was just thirty-seven years old when he was reported to have died in the Reichenbach Falls in 1891; having fallen to his death in a struggle with the criminal mastermind Moriarty. The sleuth reappeared three years later, however, to resume his detective business, but becomes filled with self-doubt and slips into semi-retirement. Meanwhile, not too many yards away from 221b Baker Street, Ebenezer Scrooge is enjoying his twilight years. Nearly fifty years on from his spirit induced epiphany one Christmas Eve, he remains a respected and admired member of society, frequently visited by his close friend and beneficiary, Dr Timothy Cratchit.

It is no surprise then, that these individuals’ paths should cross as the nineteenth century is drawing to its close. There is no historical evidence to the contrary, so the events that occur in Mark Shanahan’s ingeniously clever and witty play, “A Sherlock Carol”, are entirely plausible. If a little bonkers. After all, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Okay, the sceptical among you will be clamouring to remind me that these are fictional people, but I say ‘Humbug’ to that – let’s suspend our disbelief.

It seems that ‘A Christmas Carol’ is everywhere, so this is a perfect antidote to relieve the bloated overindulgence of Dickens at this time of year. A glorious mash up, it is recognisable as both ‘A Christmas Carol’, and as ‘Sherlock Holmes’, but the crossover is so tightly packed that characters and characteristics are well and truly mixed up. The styles as untangleable as last year’s decorations brought down from the loft.

“The cast can barely keep the smile from their faces, yet each and every one is a master at characterisation”

Holmes (Ben Caplan) is a haunted, cantankerous scrooge, insulting carol singers and bleating misanthropically at all the merry makers on Christmas Eve. He rudely shuns Watson’s (Richard James) invitation to join him for Christmas lunch. Enjoying (or rather not particularly enjoying) a melancholy drink in a melancholy tavern his solitude is interrupted by Doctor Timothy Cratchit (Devesh Kishore) who implores him, unsuccessfully, to investigate the mysterious death of Scrooge (Kammy Darweish). Holmes famously doesn’t believe in ghosts, but is nevertheless visited by a spectral Scrooge in the form of the ghost of Christmas past, present and future rolled into one. Reinvigorated he then decides to take on Cratchit’s case. A case that involves a precious blue diamond, a misplaced goose, poisoned candles, a recalcitrant maid, a bumbling Inspector Lestrade, a young Fezziwig and quite a few elementaries. Don’t ask me! Go and figure it out for yourself. You certainly won’t regret it.

The cast can barely keep the smile from their faces, yet each and every one is a master at characterisation, many of them grappling with multiple personas. Virtuosity and comedy are as intertwined as the plotlines. There is a Victorian music hall quality to it all, with the story telling and the performances taking centre stage with no reliance on modern trickery or high budget effects. Yet at the same time there is a timeless and modern quality to the presentation that appeals to all. Fans of Arthur Conan Doyle and of Charles Dickens will love it. So will newcomers. And non-fans. That covers all, I think.

At one point Watson laments the fact that Sherlock is ‘not the man I thought he was’. He hits the nail on the head. Except that this is nothing to lament, but to celebrate instead. “A Sherlock Carol” is certainly not the Sherlock you’d think it to be. Nor the Christmas Carol. But it is one of the cleverest and most entertaining of the current festive productions. You don’t need a detective’s skills to discover that. Just the ability to find Baker Street on Google Maps. And enjoy it. ‘Come, the game is afoot!’.

 


A SHERLOCK CAROL at the Marylebone Theatre

Reviewed on 30th November 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Alex Brenner

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Dry House | ★★½ | April 2023


A Sherlock Carol


A Sherlock Carol

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Doctor Who Time Fracture

Doctor Who – Time Fracture

★★★★

Unit HQ

Doctor Who Time Fracture

Doctor Who – Time Fracture

Unit HQ

Reviewed – 16th June 2021

★★★★

 

“If this site, lacks the in-your-face flash of Disneyworld, it more than makes up for it in the energy and commitment of its large and diverse cast”

 

Dedicated Whovians are in for a treat. The BBC has found a site, allegedly hidden around 1942 but only recently rediscovered, that offers an exciting adventure travelling through time and space with at least some of your favourite characters from the iconic television show. I say “at least some” because this elaborately staged production not only leads the audience through a series of well designed sets, but divides them into small groups, and smaller sets, for exclusive mini adventures. The audience is reunited twice — for a much appreciated break during the middle of the show (complete with your drink of choice and live music) — and at the end of the show for the apocalyptic breakdown and grand finale. If this site, cleverly concealed in a quiet mews just down the road from Bond Street tube, lacks the in-your-face flash of Disneyworld, it more than makes up for it in the energy and commitment of its large and diverse cast. Both “alien” and “human.”

I’d like to tell you more, but the Doctor threatened me (very nicely, of course) with a total mindwipe if I said anything about the plot. “The first rule of Time Fracture is….” — so I hope, prospective intrepid time traveller, that you’ll forgive me.

I can say that for me (and my companion) this was a great way to spend an evening in London. Social distancing seems less noticeable when the audience is constantly on the move and involved in the action. There was plenty of recognizable timey-wimey stuff going on for Doctor Who fans, and if it was a bit shouty-wouty — well, there was a lot going on all over the place, and with different groups of people. The actors managed this remarkably well, considering that they were costumed from head to foot (often unrecognizably so) in small spaces on the hottest and most humid evening in London this year. They also had to be very deft with the improvised conversations, and to deal with audience members who tried to change the plot on them, or claimed to be at least one thousand years old. In some ways Doctor Who: Time Fracture will feel a bit like the haunted house exhibits for Hallow’een. In this show, however, the sets and costumes are way more cool, and yes, scarier in at least one instance. No, I’m not going to tell you. Spoilers!

Doctor Who: Time Fracture would be a good choice of event for a blind date or even a first date. You won’t be able to talk to each other with all the noise and excitement going on, but by the end of the evening, you will know if your prospective is Time Lord material — or just a mere mortal destined to be jettisoned straight back into the universe’s dating pool.

 

 

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Mark Senior

 


Doctor Who – Time Fracture

Unit HQ until April 2022

 

Reviewed this year by Dominica:
Public Domain | ★★★★ | Online | January 2021
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice | ★★★ | Online | February 2021
Adventurous | ★★½ | Online | March 2021
Tarantula | ★★★★ | Online | April 2021
Stags | ★★★★ | Network Theatre | May 2021
Overflow | ★★★★★ | Sadler’s Wells Theatre | May 2021
L’Egisto | ★★★ | Cockpit Theatre | June 2021

 

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