Photos by Luis Escobar
Sherlock Holmes is dead. Maybe. One of three men being held in an asylum on a remote island is the world-famous detective. Perhaps. Dr. Watson is on the case. For sure.
But are we really sure about anything? If you love solving puzzles or have a passion for unraveling mysteries, you’ll love PCPA’s current production of Holmes and Watson. Jeffery Hatcher’s 2017 adaptation of an original tale by Arthur Conan Doyle is onstage in Santa Maria now and soon to be onstage at the Solvang Festival Theater.
Described as a “twisty, tantalizing mystery” meant to uncover what really happened when Holmes faced off with his nemesis Professor Moriarty, nothing (and I mean nothing) is as it seems from the opening lines of this literate production. This 90-minute (including a 15-minute intermission) confection is a treat for amateur sleuths: if you look away for a second you’re likely to miss an important clue or meaningful misdirection.
Don Stewart plays Watson, looking and sounding the epitome of a respectable Victorian gentleman in waistcoat, bowler hat, and mustache. He opens the play reading words “from the journal of John H. Watson, M.D.” and . . . we are off!
Keeping up with him on his search for the truth—just when you think it’s right there in front of you, it isn’t!—are Mark Booher, Michael Tremblay, Christen Celaya, Mike Fiore, Toby Tropper, and Michael Gould. All excellent players and witty provocateurs, who hold nothing back in their performances.
And make no mistake, these performances have many layers that will keep you guessing throughout.
Director Michael Brusasco keeps up a brisk pace, with lighting and sound effects and even a telling fog to partially obscure the memories played out onstage as each character tries to seduce us—or deceive us?—with their tales.
As we come to expect from a PCPA production, the creative designers and their teams working behind the scenes do their jobs not just effectively, but affectingly: lighting by Cody Soper, sound by Elisabeth Weidner, costumes by Klara Wilson, props by Tim Hogan, and scenery by Kevin Dudley. And don’t forget the formidable stage management skills of Jack D. Myles, Grace Neal, and crew.
Hats off to all for giving us surprises and chills, and making it look effortless in the process.