For an iconic mystery turned into a treat of frivolity and fun, take a trip to the British Moors onstage at Florida Studio Theater. The frivolous flummery suits typical summer theatergoing perfectly, as do the play’s three actors who take on 17 roles and follow delightfully demanding direction by Gavin Cameron-Webb. Has a Sherlock Holmes case ever been so goofy?
Act I of The Hound of the Baskervilles starts with ominous sounds from a hound, who breaks through a bleak sky, leaving a silhouetted emptiness. There’s certainly been foul play, for there’s a corpse. The actors begin by introducing themselves and background story, with the warning it’s scary, directly to the audience in the first of many such exchanges.
Patrick Noonan, with obvious relish displaying Holmes’s abilities, has to employ Sherlock’s (twisted) logic to find who killed the head of the Baskerville clan. Sherlock in turn enlists the help of Michael Daly’s silly but endearing Watson. (He must often resort to reminders that he’s a doctor). Tom Patterson’s well-achieved main purpose is to court danger at Dartmoor as Sir Henry, the Baskerville heir. (He carries an identifying Canadian flag because he can’t “do” a Canadian accent.)
Not only must the sleuths find the killer; they must save Sir Henry from a murderer obviously wanting to get his inheritance. What makes the prevention so difficult is his propensity for walking alone on the moors at night and his romantic pursuit of a woman (Noonan in one of his top guises) named Cecile. She wanders too but, it appears, to warn Sir Henry to leave.
Who is Cecile? Does she have a husband? Did the butler Stapleton do what butlers usually do in comic mysteries? What do various locals have to do with the plot? Just in case all is not clear in Act I, everything’s repeated in essence and fast pace at the real start of Act II. Then activity uncovers identities and introduces telling portraits, in addition to bringing on (of all things) a lamb seller. There’s another death before the solution of the first one, but you’ll not get me to tell whose.
The Curley-Clays’ simple basic set with moors backdrop and a wall nicely uses props, often pushed onstage by the characters, to establish interior scenes. How quicksand sinkings are accomplished is a mystery within the mystery. Martha Bromelmeier’s costumes are not only appropriate but plentiful, needed for myriad quick changes. Lighting designer Deanna Fitzgerald follows the author and his dramatic adapters in keeping the audience often in the dark before proper illumination.
