Local flavour in Sherlock Holmes production

There will be three performers and three off-stage talents from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows involved in an upcoming online production by Theatre in the Country.

On May 7 and 8, the company will present Sherlock Holmes and the First Baker Street Irregular by Brian Guehring. It’s a lighthearted story set early in the career of Arthur Conan Doyle’s great sleuth, as he meets the urchins who become key to his underworld information in Victorian London.

Three local child performers are taking part in this show, which itself started in Maple Ridge in 2013. El Cox, Kasey Lozinksi, and Griffin Bell are lending their talents to the show.

Director Emma Graveson, stage manager Dayna Horn and technical director Graham Coates round out the Maple Ridge theatre pros involved with the production.

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For the first time, TIC will be featuring a number of child actors in key roles during this production. Reg Parks, artistic director of the theatre, decided it would be good to open up opportunities for young performers, since everyone is feeling the fatigue of staying at home and online theatre is a great active outlet for actors of all ages.

Cox takes on the lead role of Wiggins who is a 14-year-old, street smart tough who ends up being the leader of Holmes’ Irregulars. Lozinski, 12, takes on the tough but lovable George. Bell, eight, is the youngest and smallest of the Irregulars. There are seven children and teens in the show which keeps it lively, fun and a great show for the whole family.

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With the recent increase in regulations from the Ministry of Health, TIC has had to reduce it’s live-streaming events from it’s theatre space. The problem is not the streaming, but rather making sure that actors from different households can maintain proper distancing during rehearsals and performances. One of the big challenges for Theatre in the Country is that limiting the number of people on an indoor stage down to one means few opportunities for performers. The Zoom format opens things up to allow large casts, children, new performers and are easier to mount than a full show with a set, lights and all the production trimmings.

Tickets to Sherlock Holmes and the First Baker Street Irregular are Pay-What-You-Can from $10 and are available online at theatreinthecountry.com or by calling 604-257-9737. Show time is 7:30 p.m..