Sherlock Holmes and The Thief of Antiquity

Productions:

Programme | Reviews | Director's Notes I Cast and Crew  I Gallery  I  Performances  I Audience Feedback

Review by Elaine Chapman, an independent reviewer who reviews at https://theatreandartreviews.wordpress.com/

Read her full review of Sherlock Holmes and The Thief of Antiquity here.

We started making this show back in September 2024 with no thoughts other than there would be a theme of Ancient Greek Theatre. Why? Because an Athenian organisation invited us to ‘be inspired’ by the cradle of European drama in order to bring our piece back to a real amphitheatre. Sadly, that project never went any further, but it left us having all sorts of interesting conversations about theatre itself.

It is a reasonable claim to say that Sherlock is a neurodivergent hero – so he feels right at home with our company. He sees the world differently and is celebrated for it; it is his superpower, not his disability. If this show has a point to make, it is about making a world where differing ways of thinking are valued and cherished; it was certainly a very far-off dream in 1895, when our story is set.

It has been great fun to spend time with the richly drawn characters created by Arthur Conan-Doyle, who is buried in Minstead in the New Forest.

In a twist of fate this production is our first as part of Minstead Trust, a local learning disability charity. As part of the Trust we plan to go from strength to strength and help even more people thrive through the performing arts.

This play could have been twice as long, and we would still only be introducing you to Sherlock’s world. I listened to every word of every novel and every short story and adapted whole passages into our text – it is part of our approach to be both faithful to a text and take liberties with it.

There is no mind like Sherlock’s, but just perhaps you may know some of the clues hidden in the riddles which are served up to Sherlock by an as-yet-unknown criminal mastermind; though we are far from Panto season, feel free to share your knowledge by calling out if you have a suggestion. Of course, Sherlock will work it all out without we mere mortals but getting a clue right will gain you the respect of your peers.

Richard Conlon

Crew

Costumes

Audio Visuals and Surtitles

Scenic Design and Construction

Lighting Design and Production Management

Lighting Design

Composer and Keyboard

Written by

Directed by

Co-director trainee

Images below from rehearsal by Mike Hall

Blue Apple Theatre’s Sherlock Holmes and The Thief of Antiquity was performed at Theatre Royal Winchester

Wednesday 11 June at 7.30pm

Thursday 12 June at 12pm

Thursday 12 June at 7.30pm

Livestream webcast performance

Thursday 12 June at 7.30pm

A subtitled recording of this will be made available on our YouTube channel in due course.

Audience feedback was extremely positive with an average of 97% enjoyment and 97% quality scores in our feedback questionnaire responses. Here are some of the top words the audience used to describe the show.

Below are some audience comments sent in by email, text and via social media:

“The play was absolutely brilliant — it was clear that the performers had put in an incredible amount of hard work, and it truly paid off. The inclusion of subtitles was a thoughtful touch, and the singers were particularly impressive. It’s inspiring to see the impact that Blue Apple has in supporting people with learning disabilities through the arts” Cllr Sudhakar Achwal, Mayor of Winchester

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“a galvanising celebration of the ability of our participants, and of the creativity and resourcefulness of you and all those who lent you their time and expertise” AD

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“The performers were so professional and slick – they also looked like they were really enjoying themselves. The individual growth in confidence from show to show in some of your performers is really striking.” BC

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“We loved the story and we loved the way all the actors were enjoying themselves and looking after each other. It was a delight.” DC

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“We were at the first show last night with friends. A fantastic effort by all concerned. It was great to watch the performance and see the pure pleasure the thespians get from being part of the show.” ABC

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“We found it thoughtful, intriguing, involving, joyful and honest, and the clues were lots of fun.

I was so pleased to see how much many actors had grown, especially several people who used to find it so hard to say their lines, spoke up and were really performing and owning their roles. 

It was also good to see that any on stage support was unintrusive, just enabling.” JTJ

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“It is a wonderful show. Beautiful, emotional and so powerful.” KB

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“Really enjoyed the show tonight via livestream. Massive congratulations to everyone involved” DA

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“Wow what an amazing group of people! Congratulations to all involved. Really enjoyed it and will definitely come to another production!” CH

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“Really enjoyed the show on Thursday afternoon. What a fantastic cast! Looking forward to the next one” RF

Acknowledgements

Blue Apple’s Sherlock and The Thief of Antiquity has been made possible through financial support from individual donations that were then match funded through Big Give Arts for Impact and NPAC (New Philanthropy for Arts & Culture), Hampshire County Councillor Grants and Charlotte Bonham-Carter Charitable Trust. We are grateful to all our funders and individual donors for their support, including: Winchester City Council, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation, The Perivoli Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund, individual donors and for the generous in-kind support provided by the University of Winchester. Our thanks to Access All Areas through their Arts Council England funded Transforming Leadership Programme whose support has enabled James Benfield to be involved in the creative process.