By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Ryan Fagan
Sherlock Holmes (Stephen Frankenfield), seated, Dr. Watson (Eric Du), standing left, and Steve Wood in one of his many guises.
Campy doesn't even come close to describing British playwright Ken Ludwig's “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery.”
The author's farcical return to Victorian England's most successful mastermind detective is fully appreciated in Live Theatre Workshop's ample production directed by Christopher Moseley.
LTW favorite Stephen Frankenfield gathers up the fabled deerstalker cap and meerschaum calabash pipe to take us on a Cook's tour of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic “Hound of the Baskervilles,” hitting all the high spots but leaving lots of room for nonsense.
It helps to be something of a fan of Holmes' telling eye for detail in deciphering the most befuddling accounts of this and that, leaving no hidden clue unnoticed.
On stage, confusion is the dominant element – deliberately created, for sure – just so the intrepid investigator and his admiring associate Dr. Watson (Eric Du) can emerge triumphant at the end.
Moseley keeps the pace up and everyone jumping, so it works better to just go along with the cast's energy instead of trying to understand every little story point thing along the way.
Playing some 45 characters intent on complicating the lives of Holmes and Watson are Matthew C. Copley, Steve Wood and Debbie Runge. Quick costume changes and abrupt flips in personality are a part of the fun, too.
Wood makes the strongest impression when he turns drama into comedy wearing a stove pipe hat and swinging a butterfly net.
Copley gets to be sillier, as his array of roles includes Henry Baskerville, a wealthy Texan who will become heir to the British estate – once the murder of Sir Charles Baskerille is solved.
Runge also finds comedy in unexpected places and shows a remarkable skill for backstage transformations.
Adding to the manic mayhem are rapid changes of scene, mostly accomplished by a series of five sliding wall panels, each painted with a different scene, depicting locations from a Victorian train station to a quaint village to those fiendishly foggy moors. Glen Bucy is credited as the set designer.
Ambitious sound effects of raging storms and terrifying beasts of the night enhance the Baskerville atmosphere, as well.
“Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” continues through Nov. 11, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, at Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway Blvd. Tickets are $15 Thursdays, $20 all others ($18 Military, Senior, Students.) For details and reservations, 327-4242, or livetheatreworkshop.org
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