Amid all the present-buying and house-decorating and party-going at this time of year, it helps to have a little break, less than a couple of hours, where you can sit and relax and be reminded of what the true spirit of the season is all about.
There’s a wonderful opportunity for you to do just that, nestled in the warmth of a small church community room in Morro Bay.
It’s A Sherlock Carol, an unvarnished holiday treat that packs a lot of punch into a staged reading of a play that tugs at your memories of reading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and, of all things, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes sagas.
Yes, Sherlock Holmes meets Ebeneezer Scrooge, with charming holiday music accompanying a bit of a mystery surrounding the demise of the man who, one long ago Christmas eve, is reminded of why he should enjoy being alive. It’s a clever reflection of the Dickens classic, with spirits of its own haunting an aging Holmes, who along with us is reminded that we reap what we sow, and there is joy in giving and receiving.
A few poignant moments in the theatre can make a joyful difference in the midst of busy Christmas celebrations.”
This production, directed with precision by Eve Syminton and read by an outstanding group of actors who provide a variety of voices to the characters Holmes encounters along his way, doesn’t encourage the audience to worry about the mystery (it’s Sherlock Holmes, after all—we know that journey will take care of itself). Rather we get to experience the wonder of human voices telling a tale that, like most ghost stories, is better when it spurs our own imagination to supply the visuals.
And what voices they are. Sidney Symington leads the pack with his deep, resonant reading as Holmes. His performance is more than matched by the verbal articulations of his fellow actors: Chase Mullins and Trevor Lawrence with an amazing range of vocalizations, Jonah Ruhe adding a physical eagerness to his performance, and Janice Peters and Lelia Symington providing a deft assortment of accents along the way.
The staging is simple—a stage bare except for six chairs and a bit of holiday red and green, minimal but effective lighting and sound by Samvel Gottlieb and Molly Cochran respectively, and cheerful music by Jim Symington. A few amusing props (a magnifying glass and more than one deerstalker hat among them) add a bit of fun along the way. And don’t forget the spirits . . . after all, it was the ghosts of Christmas that pointed the way for Scrooge’s transformation, and we get to listen in as Holmes encounters his own ghostly hauntings.
Presented by St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church and By the Sea Productions, A Sherlock Carol is simply a pleasure, reminding us that a few poignant moments in the theatre can make a joyful difference in the midst of busy Christmas celebrations.