Hound of the Baskervilles

Joe Higgins as Mr. Frankland, Michael RJ Campbell as Dr. John Watson
and Sean Patrick Nill as Jack Stapleton perform in
Sacramento Theatre Company’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
Barry Wisdom Photography/Courtesy photo

  

Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson are traipsing out onto the moors now to solve the crimes of the mysterious “Hound of the Baskervilles,” at Sacramento Theatre Company,

This adaptation is by playwrights R. Hamilton Wright and David Pichette, who have kept the basic mystery intact while adding bits of humor between Holmes and Watson as well as some plot and character twists along the way.

Reprising their roles as Sherlock and Watson from STC’s 2011 production of “Sherlock Holmes: the Final Adventure” are William Elsman and Michael RJ Campbell, respectively, both of whom give impeccable performances. Elsman is tall and erudite and sees clues that no one else catches; Campbell is the blustery, sometimes sardonic, always-faithful Watson. He is the “human element” that the OCD Holmes relies on in order to connect with a case’s human side.

The play begins in Holmes’ drawing room, where he is complaining to Watson that life is boring and that his most recent crimes have offered him no challenge. Right on cue, a challenging case comes knocking at his door in the person of Dr. James Mortimer (Casey McClellan).

The wealthy Sir Charles Baskerville has been found dead in his home, seemingly of natural causes, but Mortimer is suspicious because Sir Charles died with an expression of horror on his face and he noticed “the footprints of a gigantic hound” nearby.

The Baskerville family supposedly has been under a curse since the era of the English Civil War, when Hugo Baskerville offered his soul to the devil for help in abducting a woman; he reportedly was killed by a giant spectral hound. Sir Charles believed in the curse and apparently was running away from something when he died.

Mortimer fears for the life of Charles’ heir, Sir Henry (“call me Hank”) Baskerville (Dan Fagan), a cowboy from Canada. Hank is unconcerned about the curse, despite a mysterious anonymous warning note he receives, and moves into Baskerville Hall anyway.

Holmes finds the mystery intriguing though he claims he has another matter to attend to. He sends Watson to observe the goings-on and meet the local characters — each of whom has his or her own reason to have wanted Sir Charles dead. (Holmes, in the meantime is doing his own investigation, unbeknownst to Watson.)

Others in the cast include Matthew Rives as the butler Barrymore, Cynthia Speakman as his wife, and Aviva Pressman and Sean Patrick Nill as the neighbors, Beryl and Jack Stapleton. Some have projection problems and their lines were lost.

What makes this production so much fun is the scenic design by Jarrod Bodensteiner and Renee Degarmo and the lighting design of Jessica Bertine. While the whole stage is a rocky section of the Devonshire moor, pools of light focus on smaller scenes while the setting is soundlessly changed on the other side of the stage, the technicians working in pitch darkness.

William Myers’ sound effects, particularly the creepy growls and attacks of the hound, add a particular creepy quality to the story.

You can never go wrong with a good Sherlock Holmes mystery, and with the likes of Elsman and Campbell at the helm under the direction of Michael Laun, this one is a winner.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

How do you write a review about a show that you can’t really talk about without spoiling the fun?

That is the dilemma I am struggling with in reviewing “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” which opened recently at the B Street Theatre.

Set aside any preconceived notion you may have about Sherlock Holmes mysteries. This wacky adaptation of the familiar Arthur Conan Doyle story by Steven Canny and John Nicholson could have been written for the Marx Brothers or The Three Stooges.

All the characters are played by three talented actors. Greg Alexander is mostly the befuddled Dr. Watson, gone to investigate a suspicious murder in Holmes’ stead. Jason Kuykendall is mostly Holmes, though also plays a few other memorable characters, of both genders, while John Lamb is everybody else. I suspect that it must look like Act 2 of “Noises Off” backstage most of the time, with all the quick — very quick — costume changes that go on.

(The costumes by Paulette Sand-Gilbert take a lot of wear and tear and seem to hold up well.)

But as things speed up, there are on-stage costume changes, too, with conveniently placed scarves, hanks of hair, wigs, hats and what have you sitting around the stage or in containers that double as furniture. There is a hilarious tour through the Baskerville family portrait gallery, which is one of the funniest bits in a long line of very funny bits.

Definite kudos go to props intern Brianne Kuffell for keeping all the props straight and easily accessible.

In addition to playing the characters from the Holmes story, the actors also are playing actors, conveniently named Greg, Jason and John, who are forever conferring with each other and with the audience regarding things that have just taken place.

And when a section of the script seems unclear, well … let’s just do it again, double-time. And they do.

A show like this requires a fairly minimal set to allow for all the physical comedy, and Samantha Reno has designed a set that can be moved in countless ways, while a backdrop projects scenes of wherever the cast is supposed to be, whether out on the moors, in a fancy hotel or at 221B Baker St.

Director Buck Busfield adroitly walks that fine line between believability, however silly, and over-the-top camp, and gives the audience sort of the actual Conan Doyle story, but which will never be quite the same again.

Not being an expert on Sherlock Holmes, I can’t know in my gut what a real aficionado would think of a beloved classic treated in such a fashion, but the opening-night audience didn’t stop laughing throughout the two acts, and I think that is high praise indeed.