Rehearsals are now under way for York Theatre Royal’s summer show, a brand new retelling of the classic novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles. This wildly entertaining version will be told by a travelling troupe of lightning-fast Victorian players, with David Leonard heading up a cast of six actor-musicians who will each play a variety of different roles. David Leonard, who is a York Theatre Royal pantomime regular will be playing the lead role of Sherlock Holmes.
The show, which is being created and developed during rehearsal by the cast, director Damian Cruden and dramaturg Richard Hurford will use music, shadow puppetry and the magic of theatre to tell the tale of the dreaded hound as an original and hilarious extravaganza.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of Conan Doyle’s best-known Sherlock Holmes mystery stories. Set on Dartmoor, it tells the tale of the legend of the Baskerville family as they are haunted and hunted by a gigantic hound, whose appearance announces their impending death. As the latest member of the family succumbs to the curse, Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick Dr John Watson assist the heir to the estate by investigating the mystery before someone else comes to a grisly end.
York Theatre Royal has a history of giving classic stories a new twist for their summer productions, such as last year’s hit show The Railway Children at the National Railway Museum and 2014’s adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles will be a summer show full of entertainment and excitement, with eye-wateringly fast costume changes, live music, tongue-in-cheek humour and physical slapstick, which is intended for audiences of all ages to enjoy.
Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles will take place at York Theatre Royal from Friday 29 July to Saturday 27 August. Performance times are 7pm with 2.30pm matinees (see yorktheatreroyal.co.uk for a full performance schedule). Tickets from the York Theatre Royal Box Office in person, by phone on 01904 623568.