Amarillo Little Theater continues its long tradition of entertaining plays performed by a talented cast. Even the plays that are not often my cup of tea still manage to keep me pretty well engaged. Baskerville is a much more comedic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, certainly one of the most popular adventures to feature renowned fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. This version of the story also has the unique experience of only being played by five performers, with three of them hurriedly switching from role to role.
Zeke Lewis dons the deerstalker and cloak as Sherlock Holmes with Jeffrey Pickens at his side as Doctor Watson. Brandon Dawson, Brooks Boyett, and Kara Leimer play everyone else.
Sir Henry Baskerville is portrayed as a Texan who inherits the cursed property in Dartmoor. I thought that was a nice touch. I do wonder if the original adaptation by Ken Ludwig had that or if that was somehow adjusted by the cast.
I ended up getting more into after the intermission though. I suspect that this is likely because I am a bit of a purist snob, and it takes me some time to warm up to the slapstick being presented here. I did appreciate the moments where the Fourth Wall was overlooked, and the audience was brought more directly into the joke.
Once I was able to use my imagination during the location changes because the set never changed, I was more appreciative of the detail given to design the famous 221 B Baker Street lodgings.
I am no expert on plays, so I am not sure there were any technical flaws that would have caught my eye, but I think my overall admiration for the performances were strong enough for me to forgive them.
So the play has another weekend to go before the Amarillo Little Theater preps for their next show. If anyone in Amarillo reads this or is stopping through in the next few days, would certainly recommend an evening out at the theater next week.
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