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Editor's Notes | Acknowledgements | REVIEWS
Chris
Jones (Chicago Tribune) |
Hedy Weiss (Chicago Sun-Times)
Albert Williams (Chicago Reader)
Mary Shen Barnidge (Windy City Times) | Virginia
Gerst (Evanston Review)
From the Chicago Tribune
'Sign of the Four' encompasses sharp writing and acting
By Chris Jones
Tribune arts reporter
June 24 2003, 3:30 PM CDT
One of the many fascinating things about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famously
dysfunctional Baker Street sleuth and sidekick is that Sherlock Holmes
and
Dr. Watson change theatrical personalities as often as they solve crimes.
The duo - accompanied by their attendant rigmarole of Baker Street
irregulars, elemental catch-phrases, crabby housekeeper, distinctive
headgear and gently sado-masochistic interpersonal dynamic - have spawned
scores of plays over the years: "The Sign of the Four," the
exotic and dark
new adaptation on offer at the Apple Tree Theatre, is merely the latest.
But when you compare the myriad attempts to bring Holmes and Watson to
the
theater, the same guys never seem to show up. In Charles Marowitz's
"
Sherlock's Last Case," Watson is a sad, decrepit figure. Then in "The
Incredible Murder of Cardinal Tosca," he's both genial and earnest.
The same
morphing goes on with Holmes himself. Most adaptations paint him as a genial
and brilliant king of detectives. But in Steve Pickering's production of
"
The Sign of the Four," the sleuth (as played with notable intensity
by
Michael Grant), is distant and mean-spirited - a cocaine-loving obsessive
who's just this side of egomania. Watson (Joe Forbrich, cast against type),
meanwhile, is a lovelorn pup.
As fans of Conan Doyle would point out, that's not so much a matter of
the
inconsistency of adapters as the original complexity of character that
the
inventor of this pair built into the stars of his stories (which went well
beyond mere melodrama). And even though some audience members probably
will focus on the mystery yarns in each tale, true fans of this genre
are
fascinated by the personalities of the sleuths themselves.
In that regard, "The Sign of the Four" is an especially interesting
dramatization. The crime du jour is an exotic affair, involving a large
pearl and a heroine (superbly played by Kate Martin) with enough
protofeminist spunk that she goes well beyond the usual client waiting
to be
enlightened.
The quality of the writing is no surprise. A decade or so ago, Pickering
and
Charlie Sherman created a dazzling series of original adaptations of horror
novels - mainly penned by Clive Barker - at the old Organic Theatre space
on
Clark St. From "In the Flesh" to "Son of Celluloid, " Pickering
and
Sherman's creepy evocations of Barker's subterranean mind attracted huge
and
enthusiastic audiences, filled with lovers of pulp fiction.
When Pickering moved to Next Theatre, the writing partnership went to
Evanston, adapting works like William Gibson's futuristic novel "Burning
Chrome" in 1988. And then it disappeared - Sherman went back to
London and
Pickering concentrated on legitimate acting at places like the Goodman
and
beyond.
The authorship of "The Sign of the Four" is mysteriously credited
to
Shanghai Low, a.k.a., I think, Pickering, Sherman and a couple of new
partners.
The Apple Tree production is softer round the edges than was ever the case
at the Organic, which is a shame. And the physical production is half-baked.
But the acting is very sharp, the adaptation deliciously complex, and the
resultant yarn positively beguiling. Shanghai Low is at work on other
things, apparently. Very good.
Copyright © 2003, The Chicago Tribune |
