Baskerville: a howling good spoof

One of the Mayfield Dinner Theatre’s legendary traditions is mounting murder mysteries and this season’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery is thriving under the spotlight.

Playwright Ken Ludwig’s comic whodunit is an intriguing romp with a crack cast of five portraying more than 30 characters. That’s particularly impressive since two only play Sherlock Homes and his sleuthing crony Dr. Watson.

In Ludwig’s adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, Watson is surprisingly more central to the plot than Holmes. However, Sherlock Holmes purists will delight in knowing Ludwig keeps the play fairly close to the original.

The Edwardian era yarn begins with the untimely death of Sir Charles Baskerville as a huge snarling creature pursues him. Fact and fiction mix, with some believing a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural proportions that is part of the Baskerville family lore has resurfaced.

The coroner’s report suggests Sir Charles’ death was a heart attack. However, after Sir Charles’ doctor presents the report to Holmes and Watson, the consensus leads to a murder investigation.

Watson jots the names of a few suspects in a notebook, however mostly the good doctor spends his time keeping an eye on the naÄŹve young heir and possible next victim. Sir Henry Baskerville is a Texan wearing a wide-brimmed cowboy hat and an accent as broad as the Lone Star State.

The whodunit deepens once Watson and Sir Henry leave London’s famous Baker Street address and travel to the Baskerville English estate on desolate moors.

At one point Sir Henry remarks the cheerless manor “reminds me of my mother’s funeral without the liquor.”

Ludwig’s script is really a straightforward blend of farce and melodrama using a bit of mystery as the structure. It wields self-deprecating jokes, funny accents, a vigorous dose of slapstick and a certain zaniness that gives old material a fresh burst of life.

Director John Kirkpatrick, a former St. Albert actor, keeps the idiosyncratic romp clipping along at madcap pace that rarely flags.

George Szilagyi plays Holmes as the classic cerebral and egotistical genius with a flair for drama. On the other hand, Ashley Wright as Watson is puzzled at the turn of events yet appropriately dutiful allowing Holmes to place him in various dangerous situations.

Chris Bullough’s Sir Henry is fittingly loaded with an elegant cowboy charm, and Amber Lewis and Kevin Corey deftly jump from one silly role to the next. Some of the production’s best moments come from the duo’s split-second costume and character changes on stage.

Corey and Lewis are a terrific team as Baskerville’s hunched butler with a limp arm and his depressing wife with a molasses thick Nordic accent.

At another point the duo portrays a couple of mischievous messengers Holmes hires, and on the moors they become the Stapletons, a dubious couple with secrets to hide.

Kudos to Daniela Maselli’s dramatic mood lighting design and a set that unfolds similarly to a hardcover storybook. In addition, costume designer Leona Brausen’s costumes are an excellent feat of engineering that promotes quick changes and keeps the production’s flow on track.

Baskerville had a few moments that sagged, but all in all there is a great deal to admire and enjoy.