THEATRE REVIEW: ‘Holmes & Watson – The Curious Case of the Masked Magician' (Wilton’s Music Hall)

THEATRE REVIEW: ‘Holmes & Watson – The Curious Case of the Masked Magician’

Co-created by Peter Clifford, David Hoare & John Nicholson, Directed by John Nicholson.

Wilton’s Music Hall (26/05/2026) 

 

An evening combining a number of my great loves – Sherlock Holmes, magic shows and Sherlockian filming locations. This was billed as a Family Magic Show, but the audience in Wilton’s Music Hall (used for the Stag Party scenes in ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ 2011) for the 7pm performance that I attended seemed to be mainly adults. There had however, been a 2pm performance, (as it was Half Term), which may have contained more children in the audience.

This show had been co-devised by the two magicians performing, Peter Clifford and David Hoare (AKA The Great Baldini), along with the director, John Nicholson, whose co-written comedy version of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ seems to have become the go-to theatre version of the last ten years. In keeping with Nicholson’s earlier effort, all parts were played by only a few performers (in this case two), with Clifford’s Holmes or Hoare’s Watson interviewing suspects in turn played by the other, as they attempted to investigate the disappearance of ‘The Masked Magician’, Edwardian theatre’s most famous conjurer. The plot moved at a rapid pace with the magic tricks seamlessly blended into the chaos. The script was hilarious and I was laughing throughout, particularly at the comedy by-play between the two of them, particularly when as Holmes and Watson together.

At the curtain call it turned out that the director was sitting a few rows back from me, but he managed to escape before I could grab him for a photo, but even this did not impact my continued sense of elation at the end of the show. Very highly recommended if the tour (which continues into 2027) is coming near you.  (Click here for tour dates)

 

Dramatic Score: 8½/10

Rating:  (5/5)