Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” by Ken Ludwig is a rollicking, raucous theater farce that stays specific and detailed and fairly true to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original classic, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" even though Ludwig puts his own twist on the famous story. As with the original story, there are some 40 characters in Ken Ludwig’s "Baskerville…” who are played by three actors.
This bright, shiny, whodunit entertainment should fill the preference for comedy when it runs from Friday Oct 25 through Nov 9 for eight performances.
The cast, directed by Don Simpson, includes Pam Leptich as Sherlock, Ova Jean Siemens as Watson, Joan Engel, Brian Turner and Dave Simpson as the three fast change artists who play some 40 different characters.
The Playmakers have experience with this type of comedy through previous productions: “The Complet Wks of Wm Shkspr” (1997); “Greater Tuna” (1999); “The Complete History of America” (1999); “Farndale Avenue Housing Estates Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery” (2004); “Farndale… Christmas Carol” (2006); Neo-Futurists: “Don’t Let the Baby Go Blind” (2015); Hitchcock Radio Plays” (2016) and most recently, “Every Christmas Story Ever Told” (2017). We also produced another Ludwig comedy, “Fox on the Fairway” in 2013.
We have experience, also, with physical comedy from our work in the public schools, teaching Commedia dell’arte to 6th graders for ten years and two workshops on farce and physical comedy led by Sara Romersberger, formerly of SMU’s Drama School.
As in the original book, Sherlock Holmes, along with Dr. Watson, are called into a case involving the male heirs of the Baskerville line who are being murdered one by one. In this send-up Henry Baskerville, the next male heir, arrives from Texas. “As Holmes begins his search for clues, he and Watson meet with dozens of randy folk in locations such as crowded railway stations, foggy London streets, forbidding English moors and one gloomy mansion. There are clues galore, plenty of dead ends and a sizable puzzle to solve to ferret out the truth. But know it is all in good fun – no scare-fest at all.” (David Siegel, D.C. Metro Arts)
BEN BUTLER, by Richard Strand
May 23, 1861 is a very important day in the history of emancipation during the American Civil War. In retrospect, it was the date that slavery began to crumble. (Donald R. Shaffer)
On May 23, 1861, Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory fled bondage and sought asylum at a Union occupied fort outside of Hampton, Virginia, named Fort Monroe. Per Union policy, the fort’s commander, General Benjamin Franklin Butler, should have returned them to their master. But he reasoned that because the slaves were property being used by Confederate insurrectionists, it was within his rights to confiscate that property and use it for the Union’s purposes. This was the beginning of the Union’s contraband policy. The Lincoln administration, and then legislation passed by the Congress and signed by Lincoln, gave official sanction to the contraband policy. Soon, all across the Confederate States, the Union was enabling the freedom of former slaves. (https://jubiloemancipationcentury.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/civil-war-contraband-art/)
In the play by Richard Strand, how General Butler “twists” the law and alters the course of history forms the action of the play.
“Ben Butler is part comedy, part historical drama and part biography, often all at once…Just call it splendid…The beauty of the script…is how it approaches thorny topics. In short, it’s a hoot. Rather than dry exposition or long-winded discussions, these men use wordplay that is by turns sarcastic, droll and witty…{Strand’s} comic voice is…clever without being glib, meaningful without being pretentious. It’s a funny and impressive mixture.” (The New York Times)
It will be produced January 17,19,21,24,26,28,30,31, 2020. (with snow dates through the first week of February). Shonna Fletcher will make her directorial debut. Stan Starts takes on the role of Ben Butler, Justus Fletcher, his aide, Lt. Kelly, and Josh Fletcher, Confederate Major Cary. The role of Shepard Mallory is still being cast.
The real Major General Ben Butler pursued a career in law and received admittance to the bar in 1840. Building his successful practice as a trial lawyer, he also became actively involved with the local militia. Early in the Civil War he joined the Union Army, where he was noted for his lack of military skill. His appointment to Fort Monroe, VA, where the play is set, is a demotion for defying orders and occupying Baltimore, Maryland. His military inadequacy pushed him to engage in a long and successful political career, which included terms in the US Congress and serving as the Governor of Massachusetts. He even ran for President.
This bright, shiny, whodunit entertainment should fill the preference for comedy when it runs from Friday Oct 25 through Nov 9 for eight performances.
The cast, directed by Don Simpson, includes Pam Leptich as Sherlock, Ova Jean Siemens as Watson, Joan Engel, Brian Turner and Dave Simpson as the three fast change artists who play some 40 different characters.
The Playmakers have experience with this type of comedy through previous productions: “The Complet Wks of Wm Shkspr” (1997); “Greater Tuna” (1999); “The Complete History of America” (1999); “Farndale Avenue Housing Estates Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery” (2004); “Farndale… Christmas Carol” (2006); Neo-Futurists: “Don’t Let the Baby Go Blind” (2015); Hitchcock Radio Plays” (2016) and most recently, “Every Christmas Story Ever Told” (2017). We also produced another Ludwig comedy, “Fox on the Fairway” in 2013.
We have experience, also, with physical comedy from our work in the public schools, teaching Commedia dell’arte to 6th graders for ten years and two workshops on farce and physical comedy led by Sara Romersberger, formerly of SMU’s Drama School.
As in the original book, Sherlock Holmes, along with Dr. Watson, are called into a case involving the male heirs of the Baskerville line who are being murdered one by one. In this send-up Henry Baskerville, the next male heir, arrives from Texas. “As Holmes begins his search for clues, he and Watson meet with dozens of randy folk in locations such as crowded railway stations, foggy London streets, forbidding English moors and one gloomy mansion. There are clues galore, plenty of dead ends and a sizable puzzle to solve to ferret out the truth. But know it is all in good fun – no scare-fest at all.” (David Siegel, D.C. Metro Arts)
BEN BUTLER, by Richard Strand
May 23, 1861 is a very important day in the history of emancipation during the American Civil War. In retrospect, it was the date that slavery began to crumble. (Donald R. Shaffer)
On May 23, 1861, Frank Baker, James Townsend and Sheppard Mallory fled bondage and sought asylum at a Union occupied fort outside of Hampton, Virginia, named Fort Monroe. Per Union policy, the fort’s commander, General Benjamin Franklin Butler, should have returned them to their master. But he reasoned that because the slaves were property being used by Confederate insurrectionists, it was within his rights to confiscate that property and use it for the Union’s purposes. This was the beginning of the Union’s contraband policy. The Lincoln administration, and then legislation passed by the Congress and signed by Lincoln, gave official sanction to the contraband policy. Soon, all across the Confederate States, the Union was enabling the freedom of former slaves. (https://jubiloemancipationcentury.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/civil-war-contraband-art/)
In the play by Richard Strand, how General Butler “twists” the law and alters the course of history forms the action of the play.
“Ben Butler is part comedy, part historical drama and part biography, often all at once…Just call it splendid…The beauty of the script…is how it approaches thorny topics. In short, it’s a hoot. Rather than dry exposition or long-winded discussions, these men use wordplay that is by turns sarcastic, droll and witty…{Strand’s} comic voice is…clever without being glib, meaningful without being pretentious. It’s a funny and impressive mixture.” (The New York Times)
It will be produced January 17,19,21,24,26,28,30,31, 2020. (with snow dates through the first week of February). Shonna Fletcher will make her directorial debut. Stan Starts takes on the role of Ben Butler, Justus Fletcher, his aide, Lt. Kelly, and Josh Fletcher, Confederate Major Cary. The role of Shepard Mallory is still being cast.
The real Major General Ben Butler pursued a career in law and received admittance to the bar in 1840. Building his successful practice as a trial lawyer, he also became actively involved with the local militia. Early in the Civil War he joined the Union Army, where he was noted for his lack of military skill. His appointment to Fort Monroe, VA, where the play is set, is a demotion for defying orders and occupying Baltimore, Maryland. His military inadequacy pushed him to engage in a long and successful political career, which included terms in the US Congress and serving as the Governor of Massachusetts. He even ran for President.