Photo by Mark Turek
Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Trinity Rep’s second show of their 61st season is the Rhode Island premiere of “Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson-Apt-2B” by Kate Hamill. She lampoons the famed fictional character of Detective Sherlock Holmes, and his befuddled sidekick Doctor Watson and cheerfully desecrates Arthur Conan Doyle’s original characters and time frame with gender and time setting adjustments.
This show is set during the post-pandemic in the spring of 2021 with Ms. Watson, a wayward American traveling around Europe, arriving in England. She rents a room from the kindly Mrs. Hudson and ends up with a bitter roommate, Ms. Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is a police consultant whose deductions make up for a frenetic personality. She decides her new roommate has run away from her past as a doctor, so Holmes turns Watson into the role of her sidekick, who accompanies her to solve multiple violent crimes that all seem to lead to a notorious villain. Along the way they develop a close friendship as they humorously solve many cases along the way. Hamill combines many of Conan Doyle’s storylines into her script, creating wild and crazy hijinks, adventures, and mysterious events.
Two other performers play multiple roles in the show, one as the kindly landlady, Mrs. Hudson, and the seductive Irene Adler, the other as the sweet Inspector Lestrade, and a Texas billionaire, Mr. Monk, with a shady past. The revolving situations thrown their way keep the audience entertained and laughing merrily all night long. Director Laura Kepley chose four strong performers for these roles and elicited comic moments of hilarity from each of them and a poignant revelation in Act 2. She supplies them with clever shtick with an undercover of mysterious elements thrown into the mix. The enthusiastic audience revels in the engaging mystery-solving with humor thrown into the mix. This splendid cast receives a spontaneous standing ovation at the close of this wonderfully directed show.
Keply is aided in her task by scenic designer Collette Pollard, costume designer Shahrzad Mazaheri, Dawn Chiang lighting designer and Sartje Pickett sound designer who all do their jobs marvelously. The stage manager’s and her crew’s expertise in changing the set pieces from many locations is excellently rendered.
Leading the cast in these two iconic roles now played by women in this show are Renata Eastlick as Sherlock Holmes and Madeline Maby as Joan Watson. As Holmes, Eastlick runs the gamut of emotions from sulky brooder to inquisitive roommate to excellent crime solver. The rapid delivery of her lines, listening to classical music, and mystery-solving are astounding. Holmes is also a sloppy housekeeper and lives by the motto not to use outside help of the internet, but seemingly doesn’t have empathy until Watson shows her the way. Renata gives a tour de force performance in this role as the by-the-book detective finally learns how to become a friend to someone at long last. The outstanding sword-fighting choreography by Mark Rose is marvelous to behold.
Maby also delivers a terrific portrayal of the world-weary doctor Watson, who has been overwhelmed by the once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. Trying as hard as she can to escape her past as a doctor, Holmes keeps demanding her help at every turn to try to bring her back to life by solving all these crimes and curing her of her worries and fears. Madeleine shines in this role with her frightened expressions, and funny exclamation of “What the frig” when Holmes surprises her constantly, but she also delivers the goods in a heartfelt explanation of what upset her and upended her life in America. That was how upset she was with the burnout and trauma that Watson felt in the medical field. They have great chemistry together as the leads in this show.
Angela Brazil delivers an amazing performance as she transforms into all these diverse characters, ranging from a kindly older Scottish woman delivering funny one-liners all night long to a Cockney supposedly grieving widow with a secret to hide to a sexy vamp, femme fatale that will stop at nothing to achieve her goals and entrances everyone she comes into contact with. Jeff Church is another marvelous performer who plays multiple roles. His characters include Inspector Lestrade, who is warm and understanding and then turns on a dime as the overbearing billionaire hiding many sexual secrets from his senate career in Texas. His entrance in this role will leave you rolling the aisles with laughter. Jeff also plays a role that will leave you stunned. He also narrates some of the show. Some of these portrayals need to be seen to be believed. Needless to say, the audience enjoys the madcap adventures all night long from the extremely well-written, acted, and directed script. So, if you need to escape from the trials and tribulations of the outside world, be sure to catch “Ms Holmes and Ms Watson-Apt-2B” and it will certainly brighten up your night. For tickets, go to trinityrep.com or call the box office before this run is completely sold out.
MS HOLMES AND MS WATSON-APT-2B (3 October to 17 November)
Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI
1(401)351-4242
