Anna Burnside reviews ‘a fresh take’ on the classic stories.
Does any fictional character come with as much baggage as Holmes? For this Bard in the Botanics production, a departure from the series’ usual territory, writer and director Jennifer Dick leaves most of the preconceptions at the door of the Kibble Palace while using our familiarity with the residents of 221b Baker Street to her own advantage.
She crunches three well-known Holmes mysteries together while piecing together the consultant detective’s obsession with his most alluring adversary - Irene Adler.
It’s such a fresh take. Dick assumes we are familiar with all the Holmes tropes and disregards some - not a deerstalker in sight - and ignores others. Adam Donaldson’s Sherlock wears unremarkable clothes and does not do party trick deductions.
He does, however, enjoy recreational drugs and sawing at a long-suffering violin.
Stephen Arden is a patient, careworn Watson, the show’s narrator as well as tidier up to the mercurial Holmes. Adam Donaldson does a grand job of coming to the part with new eyes, and there are just a couple of fleeting Benedict Cumberbatch moments.
Rebecca Robin is a tremendous Adler, charming and outsmarting the famous detective without smudging her lipstick. She reframes each case through a feminist perspective and uses charisma and rhetoric to bring Holmes and Watson on side.
All the cast work hard. James Boal, as Inspector Lestrade and all three villains, gives great suave.
This production is like a delicious old school repertory theatre piece put through a women’s rights filter. It even includes magic tricks. Everything, from the hammy radio play soundscape to the velvet-heavy costumes, are a delight.
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Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia performs at Bard in the Botanics until August 2, 2025. For further details, go to the company’s website.
Photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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