Maybe I should get out more because I’ve never seen a play quite like ‘A Sherlock Holmes Christmas’. Let me explain:
Dr Watson arrives home with his wife, friends and a mysterious individual, who is, wait for it, Sherlock Holmes. But no one knows that it’s Sherlock because he has disguised himself as ‘Blessington’, a dour Northerner.
This amiable group of five, after talking briefly of a recent local crime, decide to act out a couple of plays for their own amusement – one either side of their dinner (our interval).
Written by Watson about Sherlock’s adventures, Blessington (really Sherlock) is given the part of Sherlock in each of Watson’s plays! Are you still with me at the back?
The whole cast interacts to create one frantic, whirling whole, constantly surprising and delighting as they slip in and out of multiple characters, often with just a quick change of hats and accents.
The show is both a hilarious send up of, and an homage to, the original Conan-Doyle creations and impressively performed on a stage the size of a postage stamp.
Craig Finley is utterly convincing as one-step-ahead, super-sleuth Sherlock, who can tell us almost everything about a person from his discarded hat, although I never did understand why or how he uses a pair of scissors as a magnifying-glass.
But it is Cyd Cowley who possibly steals the show with his rant about double-entendres, which has to be seen and heard to be believed.
The entire cast radiate enthusiasm and enjoyment, meaning that an awful lot of hard work has gone into making it all look so easy.
And well done writer/director Billy Morton; finally I realised that it’s not just me who has always found a surreal link between Sherlock Holmes, Baker Street and Gerry Rafferty!
Mind-boggling and ‘meta’ it may be, but please don’t let this deter you from snapping up tickets for this refreshing alternative to the usual festive offerings.
Edward Bliss
A Sherlock Holmes Christmas runs until December 21 at The Source at The Old Courthouse off St Aldate’s in Oxford. Tickets at https://wegottickets.com/f/13646/
