One of the most expected traditions of Christmas are the seemingly endless productions of A Christmas Carol appearing in theatres across the land. If you are suffering a bit of Humbug-fatigue, A Sherlock Carol comes as a welcome twist on the perennial Christmas story.
Mark Shanahan’s show mixes the worlds of Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle together in a Festive mystery with some rather familiar characters. It’s a cute idea with a lot of appeal.
It takes as a starting point the bare bones of Dickens’ classic redemption story. At the start, Holmes is a broken man following the death of his nemesis Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. Bellowing “Bah!” at anyone who tries to assuage his mood, he alienates his friend Doctor Watson and becomes a melancholic, solitary figure. This Holmes is haunted by a sense of purposeless without his arch enemy to challenge his interest.