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Sherlock Holmes: The Final Curtain
21st May 2018 - 26th May 2018
Could this be the final curtain for the world’s greatest detective?
Sherlock Holmes lives in retirement on the South Coast. He keeps bees, occasionally casts his fly fishing rod, even plays his Stradivarius when the rheumatism allows.
All too aware that he’s older and slower, he’s concerned that he might have lost his touch, paranoid that he is an easy target for his enemies: there have been so many over the years. He never truly believed Moriarty – his arch nemesis – died at the Reichenbach Falls.
So when Mary Watson (wife of his former associate Dr John Watson) tracks him down to tell him she has seen her long-dead son, James, through the window of 221B Baker Street, apparently alive and well, Holmes is determined to solve the mystery and confront his own demons at the same time.
Chilling, gripping and filled with unforeseen twists and revelations, this new thriller has been commissioned by Theatre Royal Bath from award-winning dramatist Simon Reade, previously Literary Manager at the Royal Shakespeare Company, This world premiere production reunites the dream team of Robert Powell and Liza Goddard following huge acclaim for their performances in Single Spies and Relatively Speaking.
Robert Powell received multiple awards and a BAFTA nomination for his portrayal of Jesus in Franco Zefferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth. His numerous credits include Holby City on television and Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell and King Charles III on stage.
Liza Goddard is one of the UK’s favourite actresses. Her extensive stage credits include Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband and Alan Ayckbourn’s Communicating Doors and Season’s Greetings. Her television work includes cult classics Doctor Who and Bergerac.
Production Photos by Nobby Clark
Rehearsal Photos by Nobby Clark
Ticket price includes a £1 contribution to our heritage fund.
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Event Reviews
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Choice Radio Worcester
Bringing Robert Powell and Liza Goddard back to Malvern is a new play by Simon Reade based on Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle’s iconic characters Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes and Dr and Mrs Watson. The Final Curtain takes place exactly 30 years after the fateful encounter with Moriarty in The Final Problem and the discovery of a body on the private beach of the Sussex home of Holmes who, for reasons of anonymity, now refers to himself as Smith and suffering from rheumatism and looking after his bees.
Meanwhile, back in 221b Baker Street, Dr Watson (Timothy Kightley) and suffragette wife Mary are now an estranged couple who have gone their separate ways but are brought together at this time of strange goings-on, involving their late son and a mystery which Holmes cannot avoid trying to solve, if only to purge his own demons.
It is also the early days of something called Radio and the story begins as a transmission by Watson in the studio of the British Broadcasting Company where he is discussing his cases with Holmes over the years.
So this is a fictional account of what might have happened to a set of fictional characters, drawing on Conan Doyle’s own belief in and promotion of spiritualism in his later life. A play which also requires the engagement of a Magic Consultant...
In typical murder-mystery-suspense fashion, just when you think all the elements have been neatly tied up and explained, back comes a very dour Mary to deliver a final question…
The play is co-produced by Kenny Wax, who is currently producing The Play That Goes Wrong so it might be tempting fate to expect that, with the magic elements and special effects, nothing goes wrong and everything goes to plan. For the most part it all works seamlessly but somewhat ironically given the show's title, it is the curtain itself which proved slightly problematic. Used as a device to conceal scene changes, the curtain was moved from one side to the other to cover the existing set and then reveal the new one. Clever stuff. But it was moved possibly too quickly as you often got a glimpse of the stagehands behind it moving everything around. A pity, as that was part of the magic of the show...
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Martin
A Holmes and Watson play in two 45 minute halves and I have to say a stellar cast including Robert Powell and Liza Goddard. Having had tickets for quite a while my expectations were high. The performance from the cast was first class and flawless, the comedic timing spot on however I got to half time a little bored but thought that the scene was set for a better second half. The couple sat directly in front of us never returned after the interval. The story which had so far dragged then became farcical and quite frankly really let the whole ensemble down. I sat til the end but was left disappointed.
Sir Arthur would have turned in his grave. 4/10 -
Keith
Mainly three stars for the acting (it would only be one mabye two for the plot). It struck me a disjointed and did not flow. Like several ideas just thrown together. A pity as the acting was good. Hopefully 'The Wipers Times' will be back to the normal standard at Malvern as I have just booked for that.
