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| Playbill |
Addison’s
Water Tower Theater staged Ken Ludwig’s “The Game’s Afoot” over the holiday
season, so what better way to celebrate than to see it with a group of
like-minded Sherlockians. That is exactly what The Crew of the Barque LONE STAR
did last Saturday night. Three-quarters of a dozen attended the play (that is
nine for those mathematically challenged). It was the first time I had seen the
play and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Dallas Morning News slightly slammed it for
not being a Sherlock Holmes play but those in the know, are perfectly aware of
the major role William Gillette played in the Holmes mythos.
Anyone
lucky enough to have visited the Gillette Castle in East Haddem, Connecticut,
would have appreciated the set. My wife Joyce and I recognized the front room
of the castle straight away. The wood and stone interior is very distinct and
difficult to miss. The play takes place inside the front room of the castle,
where Gillette is recovering from a gunshot wound suffered on stage of the
final performance as Sherlock Holmes in New York City. He invites the cast
members to his castle for a Christmas weekend. When one of the guest is stabbed
in the back, Gillette dons his Sherlock Holmes persona to find the killer. The
hilarity is non-stop.
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| Front room of Gillette's Castle |
Director Robin Armstrong
steers actors Greg Holt as William Gillette, Allyn Carrel (Martha Gillette),
Randy Pearlman (Felix Geisel), Sherry Hopkins (Daria Chase) and the rest of the
cast through tightly staged scenes where timing is of the essence. The entire
production came off flawlessly. Even the non-Sherlockians attending laughed and
applauded at all of the right spots.
Afterwards, those brave
enough to stay up past 10 pm, migrated to The Lion & Crown, a local pub
with extremely loud music blared out at us as we walked in, however, good
Sherlockian Karma set in because we were afforded our own private room with a pool table. We ate, drank and acted merry
before settling down to some Sherlockian business discussions. Tim Kline, Joe
Fay, Steve and Pam Mason, and Joyce and yours truly rounded out the group of
late night revelers. We ended the evening discussing the upcoming Birthday
Celebration Weekend in New York City over a few pints of the local brew.
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| Exterior of GIllette's Castle |
That WOULD be a lot of work to recreate. Glad they did a good job with it. Wish they'd tackle it here; it sounds like a fun play.
ReplyDelete& why am I not surprised to read that you were one of the late nighters?
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ReplyDeleteThis was really a great time! Nice summary of a great evening, Don.
ReplyDelete