The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of the best-known stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. It was made into a film in the early 1940’s with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr Watson.                                                                       This adaptation by the Phoenix Players has all the hallmarks of a Sherlock Holmes mystery with suspense, terror, some humour and a twist at the end.

Everyone involved with this excellent and well-directed production are to be congratulated. All the actors were well cast and gave confident and excellent performances with clear diction. It was wonderful to                                                                    see four new members on stage and I’m sure we will be seeing them again in forthcoming productions. The set design was spot-on and the lighting, sound and costumes had all been well thought out                                                                         . Likewise, the scene changes and these worked well.

Sherlock Homes was superbly played by Lee Sanderson with all the correct mannerisms and speech delivery we come to expect from this well-known character. Frank Bardsley as Dr Watson performed                                                                          his role to perfection.

Sherlock Holmes and the pompous, bumbling Dr Watson were invited by Lady Agatha Mortimer to Baskerville Hall as she was greatly concerned about the safety of the current owner of the Hall,                                                                                       Sir Henry Baskerville.  Lady Agatha related the story of the family curse, the previous owners’ deaths and of a horror that prowls the moor. Only Holmes can stop the beast. Gloria Elford-Box gave                                                                              a very good performance as the “Lady of the Manor”, complete with manners and diction to suit this character.  

Elliot Cable gave an excellent performance and characterisation of the very considerate and jovial gentleman Sir Henry Baskerville. He is not afraid of the hound and will go walking about the moor where he comes upon                                                Kathy Stapleton. She befriends Sir Henry and he begins to fall in love with her, but does Kathy love him?  Yasmine Angove-Middleton fell beautifully into this role. Jack Stapleton (Ben Nuttall) arrives at the Hall and finds                                              Sir Henry and Kathy stealing a kiss. Stapleton shows his disagreeable side and lays into Sir Henry with a vengeance - how dare he kiss my sister! However, as time progress Jack mellows towards                                                                                    Sir Henry and invites him to his home, but all is not what it seems for Stapleton believes that he should be the rightful owner of Baskerville Hall. Ben’s performance and change of emotions was spot on.

Mysterious noises, unexplained sightings and the sound of a hound howling all add to the tension. So, the sleuthing and hypothesizing begins and suspicion falls on the servants. Mainly, Barrymore the butler who at nigh                                               t is signalling from a window to someone on the moor. Mark Hague gave a great performance as the unpleasant Mr Barrymore, mis-leading Holmes at every possible opportunity. Mrs Barrymore, along with her husband, tries                                             to conceal the fact that her brother, Seldon, is hiding on the moor and is the escaped convict wanted for murder. Claire Haynes kept Mrs. Barrymore’s troubled emotions perfectly under control.

Perkins, the maid, appears to be the only person who doesn’t appear to have anything to hide. Wonderfully played by Jess Vardy as was Natalie McKillion as Laura Lyons and both were an essential part of the plot.

As the story progresses, we hear that a body has been found on the moor after being mauled by the beast. Identified only by the clothes the body was assumed to be that of Sir Henry.However, it was Seldon who was wearing                                cast-off clothes of Sir Henry. In the true style of Sherlock Holmes, he shoots the hound which is in fact a large dog kept chained up and starved by the Stapletons. The final twist in this story is that Jack Stapleton is not the villain                                 as we all thought but it’s Kathy! She is his wife and not his sister which of course Holmes had solved before anyone else. This is not what we the audience expected and it’s all down to good acting and the cast keeping the secret.

On behalf of Les Smith and myself thank you for the invite, your hospitality, and a most enjoyable evening.

 

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