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John Kearns as Lestrade, Humphrey Ker as Holmes, Margaret Cabourn-Smith as Mrs Hudson and David Reed as Watson. Pictures: Pete Le May Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Days of Christmas Birmingham Rep ***** On the first day of Christmas, well late November really, my true love, well some blokes on stage, really, and some girls as well, gave to me . . . not so much what you might call a partridge, more a jolly good laugh. And in our troubled world everyone needs a good laugh now and again and the cast of 13 were dying to give us one . . . literally. It all started when a group of pantomime characters in the Victorian West End, a dame, back end of a horse, Pierrot and so on sang Christmas Lights, in the musical score from those colossi of the ivories, Messrs Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, a song brought to an untimely end when the prima ballerina did a stunning and somewhat authentic performance of the dance of the dying swan and, well, died. It was murder most fowl . . . swan, fowl? Oh, please yourself. A death which comes to the attention of that celebrated sleuth, consulting detective Sherlock Holmes played by Humphrey Ker, and we can be assured that not only will Holmes solve the mystery but will reveal the very killer due to his superior deductive skills . . . and the fact Ker is also the writer so knows the plot. As does his fellow writer David Reed who plays Holmes's sidekick Dr John Watson who, if we are honest, is probably not bright enough to remember the plot Reed and Ker wrote, just as he can't remember the 12 days of Christmas, but that's another story . . . well it's this story, but not just yet. Keeping order at 221B Baker Street is Mrs Hudson, played by Margaret Cabourn-Smith. Hudson makes cakes that stay with you, in that getting rid of them is a colonic problem, and she makes Attila the Hun appear to the left of Karl Marx. Meanwhile back at the dancer's swansong, so to speak, and it's one down, and before we know it there are six trolleys cluttering up the morgue filled with victims of a festive serial killer.
Read all about it! Susan Harrison as Ernie as the late swan is . . . retired hurt (dead) Inspector Lestrade of Old Scotland Yard, played by John Kearns, is baffled, which, it seems is quite normal for him, and bows to the superior deducing skills of his consulting detective Holmes, but for balance, other consulting detectives are available, which brings in the confident, professionalism of Athena Faversham, played by Helena Wilson to both rival and combine forces with Holme's in pursuit of the Christmas killer. The fact she is a woman is not lost on Holmes, something he spotted straight away, after all he is the world's greatest detective of the Victorian era, although perhaps not fully versed in the more modern concept of PC. Aiding them all was Ernie, a street urchin, played by Susan Harrison, as a sort of Artful Dodger love child of Bill Sykes. The lad, lass, whatever, really does have an attitude problem. Along the way we meet the likes of Arthur Stone, the world's most famous Dame with the world's corniest jokes, played by Cameron Johnson, Oh yes it was! Oh no it wasn't! etc. Sadly, Arthur lost his head at the thought of being murdered. Then there were the stars of Wagner's Ring Cycle, all 16 hours of them, with Christian Andrews as Fafner and Andrew Pugsley as Wotan shouting their way through their one scene. We had wraiths and strays on the Royal Opera House roof, and a Heath Robinson torture affair David Blaine could have lived in for weeks and Deborah Tracey popped along as Queen Victoria, and, for once, she was amused. We still had the pantomime horse, back and front, the population of London, drummers, pipers and everyone else all played by Mia Overfield and Chomba S Taulo and perhaps we should mention Estella, played by Amanda Lindgren, who turns up religiously and appears in every performance even though she is not actually in it. That's real dedication. So, we have a murder to solve, well the cast do, we can just sit back and enjoy a script that is full of fun, painful puns, glorious stupidity and delightful daftness. The characters bounce off each other with immaculate timing, racing through a plot - yes there is one – aiming for guffaws far more than gasps with the fourth wall lost before the opening number has finished as panto sticks its oar in. And as for songs from the illustrious duo, there are some fun numbers in there and even a fine emotional ballad from Watson in Act II with Houses are not Holmes, with music from a fine six-piece orchestra under Musical Director, Christopher Mundy. Directed by Phillip Breen and Becky Hope-Palmer on a clever set from Mark Bailey, which even gets its own jokes, and aided by telling lighting from Anna Watson, the Rep, along with Heartaches Ltd has created a slick, fast moving Christmas cracker of an alternative to Panto to lead us into the New Year. If laughter really is the best medicine, this will cure anything. To 18-01-26, Roger Clarke 20-11-25 |
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