THEATRE REVIEW: 'Sherlock Holmes: The Final Curtain' - Rose Theatre, Kingston

THEATRE REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes - The Final Curtain

by Simon Reade after Arthur Conan Doyle
Directed by David Grindley.  




This represents Robert Powell's third time playing Holmes, having previously played him in a 1974 BBC Radio version of 'A Study in Scarlet' and a tour in 'Sherlock Holmes - The Musical'.  This new thriller, commissioned by Theatre Royal Bath from award-winning dramatist Simon Reade, previously Literary Manager at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and currently touring the country sees Holmes coming out of retirement, possibly for a final case. All too aware that he’s older and slower, he’s concerned that he might have lost his touch, paranoid that he is an easy target for his enemies. There have been so many over the years. He never truly believed Moriarty - his arch nemesis - died at the Reichenbach Falls. So when Mary Watson (wife of his former associate Dr John Watson) [played by Liza Goddard] tracks him down, telling him she has seen her long-dead son, James, through the window of 221B Baker Street, apparently alive and well, Holmes is determined to solve the mystery and confront his own demons at the same time.

I was supposed to be seeing this play with a friend, but due to illness he was unable to accompany me. I therefore had the whole of one of the fold-down benches at the Rose Theatre to myself. The play started with Dr. Watson [Timothy Kightley] narrating the adventure for the new BBC wireless service (so no adverts for Petrie Wine), which initially appeared to be the canonical 'The Lion's Mane'. I really enjoyed Kightley's performance and thought that it was a shame that he was rather sidelined in the second Act, which introduced Mycroft Holmes [Roy Sampson] as Holmes confidante. I also enjoyed Anna O'Grady as Miss Hudson (the daughter of the original 221b housekeeper). The star of the show (sorry Mr. Powell) was the 221b Study set which was the best I have ever seen in any Sherlockian production.

I enjoyed Robert Powell's performance, but struggled more with Liza Goddard's part which seemed a little underwritten. There were also slightly too many canonical quotes for my liking. The twists towards the end of the second Act were also reasonably obvious (I had predicted most of them by the interval) but this did not impact on my enjoyment.

Worth catching if it comes to a theatre near you.   (Click here for tour dates)


Rating:    (4/5)


And afterwards I managed to meet Mr. Powell and Ms. Goddard !