Sherlock Holmes versus cancel culture in musical

SIR Arthur Conan Doyle’s much-loved Victorian detective has been transported to the 21st century and given a guitar instead of his violin in a new production at the Watermill.

Sherlock Holmes and the Poison Wood is a co-production between the Newbury theatre and Metta Theatre, the company behind circus-themed productions such as Little Mermaid and The Little Prince.

It is a rock musical written and directed by Poppy Burton-Morgan with music by Ben Glasstone.

Poppy says: “Everyone loves Sherlock Holmes, a murder mystery and a detective story and that is universal.

“But, let’s be honest, it’s 2024 and we don’t need a story that is entirely populated by white men.

“It felt kind of timely to make the characters a little bit more diverse and there’s loads of material in the original that is really easy to slightly shift and update and suddenly it feels really fresh.”

In this adaptation, Holmes (a role to be shared by Connor Bannister and Dylan Wood during the run) is now a private detective and he and his landlady, nutritionist Dr Amanda Watson (Me’sha Bryan), try to solve an unexplained death at an environmental protest camp called Oakenwood.

Holmes has to take on deep fakes, cancel culture and digital manipulation to get at the truth as he pursues his chief suspect, arch-nemesis, tech billionaire and potato magnate Jan Moriarty.

Poppy says: “In the original story, Sherlock plays the violin, so the updated version is that he shreds on a guitar and that’s like the opening image.

“It’s such an exciting show because Ben’s music is so catchy and you just can’t help but tap your feet and sing along.

“It’s funny and it’s fun and it’s silly but it’s also quite emotionally powerful in places so it’s a real rollercoaster. It’s very full on, really energetic and pacy.

“Part of the fun is that Sherlock almost kind of raps in some numbers because he’s so fast and he’s so clever, the words just come tumbling out.

“There is an immersive video design, so there are moments where the entire stage is covered in projection and we are inside Sherlock’s mind palace, where he follows the clues and the logic.

“Our Sherlock is played by an actor-musician and there is a rock guitar-led score so it’s almost like when Sherlock goes off on one and explains, you know, it’s sort of revelling in his cleverness.

“The rest of the band are like the band in his head but they kind of come to life and come up on stage.

“It’s a classic Watermill show in that respect where someone’s a doughnut seller and then a minute later they’re running around the stage with their guitar.”

The choreography is by Mark Smith, of Deaf Men Dancing.

Poppy says: “He was born deaf and he integrates sign language into his choreography so every single performance is captioned because the captions are built into the immersive video design. Hopefully that makes it a really accessible show for everyone.”

The old opium habit of Victorian days has also been updated.

Poppy says: “In our version, Sherlock has a kind of disordered eating food addiction and that feels particularly topical for young people.

“Famously, Sherlock is quite an autistic, neurodiverse character and we’re really leaning into that.

“The entire company is neurodiverse and several of the characters are explicitly so and there are particular disordered eating behaviours that really are very common in autistic men.

“When you see disordered eating in the media, it’s almost always anorexic girls, so that felt interesting and true to the character.”

Poppy describes the overall effect as “funny, sexy and emotional”,
saying: “Every time we do a presentation of the video design it gets a round of applause, so I think the visual virtuosity is going to really blow people’s minds.”

Jan Moriarty is played by Gillian Kirkpatrick, Inspector Marion Lestrade by Richard P Peralta, Yorri Tremaly by EM Williams, Sasha by Loren O’Dair and Zephyr/band leader by Jimmy Chambers.

• Sherlock Holmes and the Poison Wood is at the Watermill in Bagnor from February 2 to March 16 at 7.30pm (Mondays to Saturdays) with 2.30pm matinées (Thursdays and Saturdays). Tickets cost from £20. The show has an age recommendation of 12 years and over. For information and to buy tickets, call the box office on 01635 46044 or visit watermill.org.uk