The Hound of the Baskervilles

This adaptation, by Tim Kelly, of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic story, is perhaps more melodramatic than I remember the original being but that is no bad thing. Although modern film audiences seem to love the horror genre, with all the gore that goes with it, a stage play relies more on dramatic tension than special effects. This is not to say that this production wasn’t visually appealing; it was very much so, with one of the best sets I have seen anywhere, with fantastic stage dressing, gas lights and period furniture.  The costumes were also convincing.  The only comment here is that Jack Stapleton should probably have had a jacket.

The melodramatic aspect of this production was probably introduced by Dave Hawkes’ characterization of Sherlock Holmes. Larger than life, brusque, energetic and compelling to watch, in a sense he set the tone for the whole play. However, this tone was not consistent across the whole cast. This may have been deliberate (and certainly the rather subtle incidental music didn’t hint at melodrama) but it did lead to a slight sense of unease about what the genre was meant to be and how we should react. There was a section of the audience that expressed its feelings of tension at the end of each scene in ways other than applause, with loud intakes of breath and oohs and aahs.  For them this was a melodrama that necessitated participation. For others, there was polite applause and a raised eyebrow.

One proposal might have been to adjust the casting slightly and play up the dramatic tension, including the scene change music. For example, swapping Jacquie Newman and Helen Bence around may have provided more aristocratic gravitas in Lady Agatha Mortimer and more down-trodden sympathy in Mrs Barrymore.   This would have increased the dramatic stakes during the scenes in which Lady Agatha was considered a potential suspect and in which Mrs Barrymore was defending her brother. Bob Ryall’s Watson was cast in the mould of the early Watsons, the perfect gentleman with the ladies and slightly out of step with his lightning-witted friend. This could have been exaggerated further, eliciting even more sympathy when he laments being excluded from Holmes’ confidence. Laura Bradley’s Kathy Stapleton was very strong, all sweetness and light in Act 1 and all fire and steel when her plan is discovered. Perhaps a hint of fire could have been revealed when her husband (not her brother) attacked Baskerville, in what we assume was a fit of jealousy. Jade Flack did well as the somewhat enigmatic Laura Lyons and Bruce Thomson was a relaxed Sir Henry Baskerville.   

I enjoyed this production overall and was particularly impressed with the set. The ambiguity over dramatic style was perhaps a function of the audience reaction to some extent. Nevertheless, despite the apparent ambiguity the production worked very well and was highly entertaining.

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