BY ALISE CHAFFINS
In 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced readers to the greatest detective ever, Sherlock Holmes.
This week, 136 years later, West Virginia Public Theatre will be bringing Holmes to the stage in the Steven Dietz adaptation, “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure.”
“All of our work, we choose our plays, we choose our artists, to have the highest entertainment and fun value that theater has. We strive for the best that we can possibly do,” said Jerry McGonigle, artistic director for West Virginia Public Theatre. “‘Sherlock Holmes’ is just a lot of really good fun. It’s got a universal appeal.”
James Taylor Odom is performing the titular character in this production. He has come to Morgantown from Georgia and brings with him a deep love of Holmes as a character. “Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty are the original superhero and villain. To what we consider that today, we can trace it back to them.”
This play is a combination of two stories, “The Final Adventure” and “A Scandal in Bohemia.” In it, we are introduced to both Irene Adler and James Moriarty, Holmes’ great love and great adversary. The play, “The Final Adventure” was originally written by William Gillette with Doyle in 1899. Dietz adapted it in 2006, adding in elements of “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Despite the more modern adaptation, the story is still set in the Victorian era.
West Virginia Public Theatre is unique in that it is one of only a few fully professional theater companies in West Virginia. While people are hired locally, casting is not limited to West Virginia. This can provide its own challenges, but McGonigle is thrilled with this cast.
“You bring actors from all over the country and you put them in a room to do this play. None of them have met each other, and you just cross your fingers and hope the chemistry is there,” he said. “The minute they got here, it was absolutely obvious that we nailed the chemistry part. They just have a great time together and it’s really positive.”
Odom also has lots of complimentary things to say about his castmates.
“We have a really, really hysterical cast. It’s not that this play is hysterical, but even amongst the drama and the melodrama, I’m surrounded by a cast that is really copacetic and super engaging with one another.”
The cast and crew have about three weeks in which to put on their productions.
“It guarantees that we will be able to not rush, not throw something together, but to actually develop something,” McGonigle said. “A lot of summer theaters will only hire people who have done the show before, but this allows us to put our own stamp on it and to stand on our own legs.”
Odom believes that this show will be a lot of fun not only for people with season subscriptions, but for anyone interested in dipping their toes into the live theater experience.
“We’re going to have a lot of people specifically coming to see Sherlock Holmes. I think a lot of people are going to have preconceived ideas about what they’re going to see because our entertainment ecosystems are so filled with Holmes. No matter what Holmes they have in their mind, come in knowing that we’re creating our own world here. We’re going to stay true to the stories, but punch it with a lot of fun and love.”
