Rafael Untalan and James Evans as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery.” Credit: Courtesy 
Rafael Untalan and James Evans as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery.” Credit: Courtesy 
The five-member cast of “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” play a wide and ranging cast. Left to right: James evans as Doctor Watson, Rafael Untalan as Sherlock, Olivia Giliat as Cartwright, Tim Hackney as Wilson and Jimmy Kieffer as Lucy. Credit: Courtesy
The Peterborough Players open their season this year with Ken Ludwig’s “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery,” a surprisingly comedic, yet still dramatic take on one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous mysteries.
I experienced a preview during an invited dress rehearsal of the first act of the play, and found myself struck by how much atmosphere the play provides, with fairly minimal staging.
The play opens with the inciting incident: The wealthy Sir Charles Baskerville, while on his expansive Devonshire property, is beset by a snarling beast and struck down by fear. The beast, we never see. It is left to flickering lights, sound effects from speakers and Baskerville’s shadow struck large on the wall as he succumbs to his fear.
The rest of the first act follows the famous detective duo of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson as a representative of Baskerville’s heir seeks out the assistance of Holmes and Watson to ensure the safety of the new owner of the manor and the surrounding moors.
Following the performance, I had a chance to speak with Stephen Jones, the lighting and scenic designer for “Baskerville,” about how he approached creating atmosphere with those limited settings.
The intimate barn and stage of the Players is the perfect set-up for a play like “Baskerville”, Jones explained. This, I could tell for myself. At times, Doctor Watson, acting as our narrator, breaks out of the play to give dialogue straight to the audience. The comedy in the play invites audience participation, with laughs and gasps an expected part of the performance. In his lighting, Jones allows the light to spill beyond the stage, inviting the audience to feel immersed in the stage.
The play is a mix of understated and complex: With only two backdrops of dreary London and the desolate moors of Devonshire, the play creates scenes with minimal props. Despite having a bevy of characters acting as witnesses, informants and suspects, the play only has five actors, two of whom are locked in as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, leaving the remaining three actors to cover a total of 35 extra characters.
How do they pull this off? With aplomb.
“Baskerville” involves a lot of choreographed rushing off stage for costume quick-changes, with actors re-appearing with new costumes and a fresh accent, sometimes within only moments between.
Despite an underlying dramatic grounding, there is a surprising amount of physical comedy in the actor’s performances.
Olivia Gilliatt and Jimmy Kieffer have the most changes within the play, and make the most of each character, even ones unnamed, or only by a characteristic: Gilliatt’s German Maid, or Mrs. Barrymore, the caretaker of the Baskerville manor who speaks with a near-incomprehensible inability to pronounce her ‘V’s and, and Kieffer’s overly dramatic Castillian Desk Clerk got some of the biggest laughs of the night.
The settings are quite distinct from each other; another lighting effect. While often tinged with blue to create a darkening, dreary effect, the color blue is slightly different from London to the moors, creating a different feeling
Rafael Untalan and James Evans as Holmes and Watson, and Tim Hackney, who plays several roles, but mainly Sir Henry Baskerville, the Texan descendant to inherit Baskerville Hall, get to deliver more grounded performances, with a bit of comedy mixed in.
“Baskerville” is theatricality at its best, and best shown off in a venue like the Players — a small cast playing a sprawling cast, showing off just how versatile actors can be as they slip from one role to another. It’s a good time, and a fun mystery that will make you laugh, but also admire the artistry of the behind-the-scenes that remains hidden from the audience’s eyes.
“Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” opens on June 17 and runs through June 28. Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. on weeknights, and a 4 p.m. matinee on weekends. There will be a pre-show presentation on Friday, June 19, at 6:30 p.m., and a talkback session on June 21, after the show. There will be an after-hours bar on the June 20, June 25 and June 27 shows, and a cabaret on June 26, after the show.
For additional information or to buy tickets, visit peterboroughplayers.org.