November 27, 2022 · 1:47 pm
CELEBRATORY, MY DEAR WATSON
I had come from the magnificent Previous Vic Christmas Carol, the place as soon as once more with mince pies, bells and lanterns and Dickensian cheer and a message about how poor Scrooge was maltreated by his father way back. Nonetheless price it, a cracking household present. So it felt like enjoyable to journey three miles north north throughout Dickens’ metropolis, past 221b Baker St to the brand new Marylebone Theatre for Mark Shanahan’s A Sherlock Carol, which did slightly properly in New York and cheekily opens with the Dickens echo – “Moriarty was useless..”.
It’s a mash-up, a tribute, doubtlessly a substantial amount of enjoyable. And traditionally a great jokes: for now it’s 40 years on from the time of A Christmas Carol, and Holmes is extremely depressed and purposeless after defeating Moriarty the master-criminal on the Reichenbach Falls. He’s visited by the middle-aged Dr Cratchit: Tiny Tim! He has grown up and is earnestly curing different youngsters in a hospital as soon as funded by Scrooge’s benefactions however now a bit in need of cash.
Furthermore, Scrooge has been murdered. And there’s a shenanigan about a misplaced will and the valuable Blue Carbuncle, which may save the hospital however is gone. It might or could not have been stolen by a descendant of Scrooge’s outdated employer Fezziwig. Who, in a very pointless sub-plot, is in love with a descendant, of I feel, Scrooge’s outdated girlfriend Fan. It’s an excellent and cheeky thought, and Shanahan echoes strains from each books. For example, when Holmes who famously doesn’t consider in spirits is visited on Christmas Eve by Scrooge’s ghost, the ghost mockingly quotes him – “if you happen to eradicate the unimaginable, no matter stays ,nevertheless inconceivable, have to be the reality”.
I needed to adore it. I actually did. And it’s solely two hours, however the first half is fussy with sub-plots and terrible comedy accents your children could love however I didn’t. You could possibly trim down the longer first half very neatly and run it as 90-minutes-no interval, although that may reduce down on the mulled wine which was slightly good within the bar. Kammy Darweish is a beautiful Scrooge, and the crinolined ensemble telling the story are enjoyable, however there’s an issue with Ben Caplan’s Sherlock. I do know it’s onerous to behave as if you happen to’re disillusioned and depressed – you want Hamlet-style poetry for that – however the entire of the primary half noticed him irritatingly mopey and low-key, not a Sherlock we will love. Perhaps he’ll dial it up because the Christmas spirit rises. I hope so, as a result of it’s a hell of a good suggestion. God bless us, each one!
marylebonetheatre.co to 7 Jan
score three
