Review: A SHERLOCK CAROL, Marylebone Theatre
Photo credit: Steve Gregson
Moriarty is dead. Moriarty is dead. Did we mention that Moriarty is dead? It’s Christmas Eve and the tormented and bitter Sherlock Holmes has rejected Watson and retired from solving crimes…until he is approached by Tiny Tim, who is all grown up now. Tiny Tim tells him that Ebenezer Scrooge has been murdered and that Scrooge’s will and a precious jewel have mysteriously disappeared. Sherlock is the only person for the job but will he be able to overcome his inner hauntings to crack the case?
The show made its Off West End debut at Marylebone Theatre in November 2022, having been performed Off-Broadway the previous year. Due to its success, it was brought back and had another sell out run. This year marks the third year of the show’s return, beginning the process of cementing it as a Christmas classic.
In terms of the design of the show, we are pleasantly surprised and delighted to see a return to a more traditional style of theatre with a painted backdrop, sets that are moved on and offstage by the cast and a combination of blackouts and fairytale-esque narration during scene changes. This is an excellent stylistic decision as it transports the audience back to traditional storytelling roots and gives the show the feel of being a Victorian fireside story. It gives the essence of childhood imagination without being childish in any sense.
Mark Shanahan, the writer and director of the show, clearly knows what he’s doing and has mastered the art of adaptation. With its highly witty tone, the story is rooted in the best parts of the Dickensian and Doyle stories. The idea to tell the tale predominantly from Sherlock’s perspective as opposed to Watson’s makes it distinctly unique and is what ultimately allows the audience to receive the true underlying message of the show: that supernatural occurrences aren’t what inspires people to change for the better, rather the acknowledgement and honest confrontation of the inner spirits that haunt us. Past mistakes, unhealthy obsessions and the shortcomings that we are afraid to admit are what make us our own enemy. This show is one which inspires hope in its admission that we all have our ghosts and that makes us part of a society, and encourages us not to wait until tomorrow or the next day to make positive change. Change can happen within anyone at any time, provided you’re open to actively making those changes and willing to trust that people want to be there with you through it, if you’re willing to let them in.
Ben Caplan’s gritty characterisation of Holmes has us hooked from the minute he appears on stage. It’s as if the man himself has leapt out of the page, with his mannerisms and way of speaking. There is great talent in being able to present a character who is bitter and lost in his own world as one requiring the audience’s empathy, especially because there is a very real risk of the audience hating him at first due to his presentation as a pre-change Scrooge.
The cast as a whole is very strong with their fluid ability to change everything from the intonations in their voices to the slightest hand gesture to create a whole host of characters. Louise Hoare has us rooting for Emma Wiggin’s father to be proven innocent and set free, and Devesh Kishore has us falling over our feet in love with how Tiny Tim has grown into a caregiver of the world due to his benefactor. But let's not forget the biggest surprise of the show in Kammy Darweish’s performance of Scrooge as a much needed comic relief character. He’s charismatic, straightforward without being blunt and lights up the stage in an almost uncanny way.
Highly entertaining and full of suspense and intrigue. The best kind of Christmas gift.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Megan O’Neill
