Hound of the Baskervilles
Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne
until 31st August 2024
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson
Totally bonkers is the description that comes to mind. This production is zany, quirky and hilarious. The mixture of slapstick-style humour and surreal comedy has the audience wondering what on earth is going on.
It starts with a very clever mime sequence interrupted by breaking the fourth wall to engage the audience in warnings about the horrible events they are about to witness. They do this kind of thing several times throughout the play to hilarious effect, including references to a supposed negative post on social media about the first act that precipitates a replay at break-neck speed.
With only three actors there are moments when the apparent need for a fourth is the occasion for further acts of madness that are both clever and hysterically funny. Andrew Pollard takes the role of Sherlock Holmes as well as several others, sometimes at the same time. Ben Roddy is Doctor Watson and Tom Richardson is Sir Henry Baskerville. Both of them also take on additional roles. There is a quality of pantomime about the performance that includes the kind of innuendo designed for adults that makes it suitable for children with the humour operating at different levels.
The staging appears deceptively simple, but several different settings are created with changes in backdrop and some large props that the actors themselves constantly wheel on and off the stage. These are repurposed on stage with some sublime timing and create a few occasions for ad-libbed humour as the action leads into moments of total insanity.
In the second act short blackouts create a series of vignettes that have the audience guessing what will come next. Throughout the play simple props are used imaginatively to suggest portraits, windows and an invisible horse. While the actors give the impression that they are having lots of fun, romping through the action, what they are doing is not easy, indeed, some serious theatrical talent is being brought to bear on this madly entertaining play.
If you want an evening of madcap fun that will make you laugh out loud, do not miss this opportunity to see these three huge talents in action. Oh yes, and bring your children too.
Reviewer: Jorj Kowszun