The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

Chapterhouse Theatre Company

Bridport Arts Centre

Chapterhouse Theatre Company's quick witted production certainly did not disappoint, giving us thrilling fast pace adventure and mystery at every twist and turn of this gripping tale of Sherlock Holmes. As well as being their third production exploring Sherlock's adventures this is also Chapterhouse Theatre's sixteenth year of touring wonderful outdoor theatre in idyllic settings all over the country. Bridport Arts Centre is a wonderful community venue, however it was a great shame that the weather forecast meant performing here instead of at the Millennium Green. Chapterhouse are a theatre company that specialize in outdoor theatre. Therefore having to adapt to performing inside at short notice must have been a challenge. A lot of the opening dialogue was delivered outwardly and exaggerated, something the production would have needed had it been outdoors to reach every audience member. However this needed to be toned down for the arts centre. This was not their only set back, unfortunately a cast member could not perform which meant actress Amy Spencer stepped in to play the role of Elissa. Although she had her script present throughout most of the play, she did a superb job under the circumstances.

Set in a convent in the countryside of East Anglia, this murder mystery had us all scratching our heads trying to figure out who the culprit was and wondering if nuns and monks could really have that many secrets. Sherlock Holmes is an extremely well known character and it is very hard to follow such memorable performances from the likes of Robert Downey Jr or Benedict Cumberbatch. He is known for his wit and fast dialogue, however I think some of that may have been taken to much to the extreme in this production. A lot of their comic timing was off because of this and jokes that should have had us in stitches only received a few chuckles here and there.

Stand out performances were from Graham Hill and Luke de Belder playing Dr Watson and Brother Benjamin, their comic timing during a scene involving a tooth being removed was brilliantly executed.

Having seen this company before performing outdoor theatre at its finest, I would definitely recommend watching their next production A Midsummer Night's Dream at Athelhampton House on the 28th of August.

BRYDIE MACDONALD