Utah Shakespeare Festival – “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure”
Grade: B
The game is afoot with the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival’s version of “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure.” Based on the original 1899 play written by William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this version doesn’t stray far from its roots. The show starts with Watson grieving the death of Holmes (J. Todd Adams), and laying the foundation for what will become the mystery to be solved. Characters are introduced, Holmes is eccentric, Watson (played with brilliant subtlety by Brian Vaughn) is skeptical but loyal, accusations are made, and subplots are uncovered — classic Holmes. And therein lies the rub.
Since the 1900s, there have been over 250 films and TV shows based on the Sherlock Holmes character, most recently the film version starring Robert Downey, Jr. and the wonderfully successful BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch. With deerstalker caps and pipes abounding, one is left wondering — has Sherlock Holmes been diluted? Do we know him too well? Perhaps the character has been reinvented so many times that the audience expects more than the run-of-the-mill antics and wrap-up ending.
This play had all the right elements – good actors, beautiful set design, outstanding costumes, smooth scene transitions –, everything that should come together to make the audience feel as though they are getting their money’s worth. But for some reason, it fell short.
We’ve been introduced to a new, hip, exciting Holmes. The eccentric wild man with crazy hair intermittently playing the violin doesn’t satisfy us anymore. We want a fresh storyline, a whodunit that we can’t figure out. Romance us. Humor us. But please, oh please, surprise us! We’ve been promised an exciting ride that will leave us stumped and intellectually stimulated, and it’s too late to go back now. We want more.
