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If you interested in putting on a production of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
The Sign Of The Four, please contact our publisher, Dramatic
Publishing.
Read an excerpt
from the script.
EDITOR'S
NOTES | Acknowledgements | Reviews
The story of Sir Arthur’s most often adapted for the stage, this
version of THE SIGN OF THE FOUR benefits, we feel, from two years’ careful
study of the complete Canon, with the counsel of some of the 50 Sherlockian
Societies in and around Chicago – most especially, the city’s
oldest: HUGO’S COMPANIONS.
 A faithful eye was kept toward weeding out – both in text and staging
- those elements that have been laid upon the author’s mythos through
more than a centuries’ worth of interpretation. By example, in the
original Apple Tree production, Holmes smoked the required clay pipes called
for in the stories, as opposed to the larger varieties adopted by the great
William Gillette in his stage productions. And, since the detective never
travels to the countryside in this story, he did not wear a deerstalker
cap.
But these were rules that seemed important to us, at the time, and need
not be written in stone for you, should you want to invest in the good
nostalgia of your particular audience - as we ourselves felt the need to
break them in our original advertising art.
Dr. John Watson, as well, here, we hope, was brought up to his deserved
status as full partner in the enterprise: at 36, a virile, wounded war
veteran discovering his voice as a storyteller. In the editing, we constantly
tried to come from the perspective that both gentlemen bring an equal amount
to the table as far as solving crime goes - be that by intention or accident.
We did take license with the character of Mary Morston, making her, we
feel, someone a bit more attractive for today’s actresses to play – but
not far enough afield of the historical possibilities where the character
would seem anachronistic. As with many things in this adaptation, it was
great fun to speculate what the “reality” of a story element
or character might be, as opposed to Watson’s interpretation of the
same.
On the whole, our staging researches focused on Victorian stagecraft as
the primary tool used to wind through the many places and events required
by the text, but certainly need not be limited to that. All one needs is
a love of all things theatrical, really. By example, Toby the Dog appears
in the play, and not having a live dog handy, we simply used a puppet on
wheels - to the delight of the audiences.
Exceptions: productions should make the greatest effort to obtain proper,
accurate translations of the Indian dialects represented here, and it would
be a great disappointment to us if South Asian actors were not engaged
for the three parts requiring them. |
