Written & Directed by Samuel Masters.
(Brighton Open Air Theatre, 16/05/2026)
A few days after ‘Sherlock Holmes’ at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre, I found myself again in an Open Air Theatre, this time in Brighton, to watch a Sherlockian play presented by the Department of Ulterior Motives (DUM) as part of Brighton Fringe. DUM is a theatre company based in Brighton, specialising in ‘bold yet accessible reinterpretations of literature and folklore’, and the previous year had offered a comedic version of GK Chesterton’s metaphysical thriller ‘The Man Who Was Thursday’. This year’s offering was a comic adaptation of the ‘Arsène Lupin vs Sherlock Holmes/Herlock Sholmes’ novels of Maurice LeBlanc (recently updated for Netflix), but as the title indicates performed in drag, ie. with all the male characters played by females and (almost) all the female characters played by males.
I therefore caught a train from East Croydon to Preston Park, where it was a twenty-minute walk to Dyke Road Park and the theatre, Watching a matinee, I had learnt nothing from a few days before, and the early sunshine having evaporated by the time of the performance, I was grateful when during the interval, theatre staff came round handing out blankets.
The play itself was absolutely hilarious with Chully Mullock’s ridiculously camp Lupin being a highlight, along with Esther Dracott’s Watson. Maria Evans’ Holmes was appropriately pompous, Alex Scarrott’s Mrs. Hudson very pantomime dame, Michael Grant’s Irene Adler appropriately arch, and Phaedra Danelli’s Josephine very funny, with excellent support from Emma Howarth, Alex Louise and Tiggie Ellison. There were several lip-synchs, a couple of ‘Drag Race’ references, masses of physical comedy, and it even ended with a 1990s power ballad. After the two outdoor performances that day, it was having a short run at the Ironworks Studios. Definitely recommended if restaged.
Dramatic Score: 10/10 (I’m not taking a point off for an Irene Adler with a beard)
Rating: 
(5/5)
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