Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles

I always look forward to seeing a production by Cosmopolitan Players and this was no exception - they always manage to give their audiences something new and different - this play certainly was!

We are all familiar with dear Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson et al, especially with the eerie tale of ghostly and dastardly happenings with the scary hound roaming Dartmoor Moors - this must be the most famous of all Arthur Conan Doyle's stories - but, for me at least, who can never remember the ending, the most popular.

Therefore, it was a challenge for director, Carolyn Craven, to give this story a new twist and she pulled it off magnificently.

The Studio space of the Carriageworks is not an easy place to mount any production - on entering, we were greeted by three mime artists, costumed in the Marcel Marceau style - at first, I was a little confused as to what they were presenting to us - the performance area was the length of the Studio, with seating on either side and the audience were very close to the actors. Then I realised, they were giving us a preview of the story to come - how clever - they also engaged at times with the audience by guiding them to their seats - it was most interesting - carefully chosen background music was played throughout (original music by Danny Gamble) which built up when the play began and gave an atmospheric tone to the proceedings.

The actors in this piece are all experienced and this certainly showed in their performances. Sherlock Holmes was played by James Hart, giving an assured and polished performance. Richard Hunt was an avuncular Doctor Watson and these two men worked very well together. The local Doctor Mortimer was played here by Louise Blackburn with clarity and compassion. Nick Thatcher played Henry Baskerville, the American heir to Baskerville Hall; he looked and sounded the part to perfection - David Rogers and Louise Hirst played the brother and sister roles, Jack and Beryl Stapleton with panache and style. Emma McGrath was the humble but kind servant, Eliza. Other parts were played by Cos stalwarts; Alan Troake as Hugo Baskerville, Diane McHale Fannon as Florence Maiden, Linda McHale as Annie Leicester and Graham Siddle as Sir Charles Seldon - all these characters had been either killed or terrified by the hound and appeared carrying picture frames which adorned the walls of Baskerville Hall. These were cameo roles but played to perfection by this talented and experienced group. I must give a mention to the Lead Mime Artist, Elaine Jackson, whose task it was to move chairs and props - not an easy job in limited space but so well done.

A good show relies not only on the performers, but also the backstage crew. Matt Tempest was the Stage Manager and he had an excellent team with him - Tina Nutt was responsible for Lighting and Sound - the CWX technician was Chaz Elliot - all first class with cues and special effects. The chaps with their eyes on the dialogue were Lee Sharratt and Bryan Craven - as I attended on first night, there were a couple of wobbles, but these will have faded away as the week progresses and it certainly didn't detract from the play. Julia Hall handled the Props - a logistical nightmare, making sure they were all in the right place on the set!  And I nearly forgot to mention Leah Hamilton, meeting and greeting patrons Front of House delightfully.

As I have said previously, Carolyn, the Director, had obviously worked very hard to make sure the actors were comfortable in the staging - it cannot be easy to work so closely with the audience but they all dealt with this very well.

This was so obviously a team effort and I cannot help but praise everyone involved for a fine evening's entertainment.

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