A French Canadian Sherlock Holmes stars in the hilarious spoof of The Hound of the Baskervilles, kicking off the season for the Royal Canadian Theatre Company.
The play, adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson from the original novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, follows the famous detective and his sidekick Watson as they try and solve the mystery of who, or what is trying to kill Sir Henry Baskerville.
Sir Henry, a Canadian, travels to London as the lone heir to the fortune of Sir Charles Baskerville, who has just died from a heart attack.
But he finds he is in mortal danger from a great, black beast in the shape of a monstrous dog that, according to a curse, will kill any member of the Baskerville family it lays eyes upon.
While trying to solve the mystery, Watson meets many odd characters, including the butler and his beautiful wife Cecile and her ominous brother Stapleton, a strange local hermit.
Three actors play all the roles in this silly comedy. Michael Charrois, a French Canadian himself, plays the role of Sherlock Holmes, Steven Weller plays Watson and new to the theatre company, Jonathan Mason plays Sir Henry.
“This was a huge hit in the west end of London a few years back at the Duchess Theatre,” explained award-winning director Ellie King.
“In the original production in London, the actor playing Sherlock Holmes was in fact Spanish and I thought, ‘Well, okay, that’s fun, if they can do that then if I bring it to Canada I can have my Sherlock Holmes as French Canadian,’” said King.
King has been a fan of Sherlock Holmes her entire life and was waiting for the right play to come across her desk to take on.
As artistic director of the company, plays are sent to her all the time. But when she saw this one, she fell in love because it is pretty close to the original story, the Sherlock Holmes that she loves and also that it is so silly.
“I love silly humour,” she said.
“Holmes and Watson go to meet Sir Henry in the sauna and they just arrive and put towels over their outdoor coats and sit in the sauna. It’s that kind of silliness,” she said.
She is also a fan of the books because they are not only well written, but written in language that she loves and appreciates.
“I love the mysteries. I love the way they are constructed. I love the fact that it was probably the first piece of fiction to use almost modern forensic type detection work,” explained the director, adding that the investigative methods used in the novels were, in fact, used by the police themselves only after the stories themselves were written.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a play within a play and it is one of the most complex productions King has taken on in her 29-year directing career.
“It’s very fast moving. Pieces of scenery come on and go off. There is a wandering fireplace that keeps arriving and going away again, seemingly by magic.”
“The costume changes are many. It’s absolute chaos backstage,” chuckled King.
The play is so complex that the stage manager, Stephanie Bruce, is unable to call the cues for lighting and sound to the technicians.
“So we carry our own lighting and sound operators with us,” said King.
For the actors, the play is challenging because they are switching characters, they are switching sides of the stage for their entrances and exits, they are switching characters, they are switching voices, they are switching costumes, props and they are also manipulating the scenery.
In addition, when the actors are being actors there is interaction with the audience with the main premise being that the theatre itself is haunted.
This is the Royal Canadian Theatre Company’s fifth season at the ACT in Maple Ridge.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the first in a series of three the theatre will be putting on this season. In December, the company will be putting on Sinbad, the Pirates and the Island of the Dinosaur, and in March they will be putting on the comedy Funny Money.
• There will be a special $8 preview of The Hound of the Baskervilles at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at the ACT Arts Centre, 11944 Haney Place, downtown Maple Ridge. Two other performances will take place at 3:30 p.m. and at 8 p.m. on Oct. 28.
Series ticket packages and group packages are available.
For more information, go to rctheatreco.com.