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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)
Evanston Review - Pioneer Press
A mixed 'Sign'
BY VIRGINIA GERST
THEATER CRITIC
The new adaptation of "The Sign of the Four" at Apple Tree
Theatre in
Highland Park, gets things half right.
Steve Pickering, the former artistic director at the Next Theatre in
Evanston, and his collaborators at Shanghai Low Theatricals, have brought
a
lively imagination to their adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's second
published novel, and dead-on performances by Michael Grant as Sherlock
Holmes, "London's only consulting detective," and Joe Forbrich
as his
good-natured colleague in crime-fighting, Dr. Watson, bring these fictional
characters very much to life.
REVIEW
But things go wrong in Act Two. When Holmes actually gets down to the
business of solving the mystery of the long-missing British Army officer,
a
chest filled with treasure, and an old Indian blood pact, the plot becomes
anything but elementary, my dear audience. The play loses its dramatic
center as a peg-legged man hobbles onto the scene, a cadre of Indians
appears to reenact a murder, Holmes sleuths around London and scenes
change
with the speed of a pickpocket on the lam.
It's too bad, because the character-driven first act has such promise.
As it
opens, Holmes is between jobs, and smoking cocaine in his Victorian-era
drawing room to alleviate the boredom, while Dr. Watson frets over his
friend's drug habit.
Holmes, for his part, is not happy about the "torrid little melodrama"
Watson has written detailing their previous case, "A Study in Scarlet." The
book, which the detective says trivializes his work, is selling fast
all
over London and bringing him unwanted notoriety.
Holmes longs for real work, and he gets it when Mary Morstan (Kate Martin)
arrives seeking his help.
Mary's father vanished 10 years ago, and every year for the past six,
on the
anniversary of his disappearance, she has received a single perfect pearl.
This year's post has also brought a note asking that she meet her benefactor
so that a grave wrong can be put right. She may not bring the police,
the
note states, but she may ask two friends to accompany her.
Director Pickering has chosen his cast well. Grant has Holmes' lean,
angular
look, and is every inch the brilliant detective. As his eyes flash, you
can
almost see the wheels turning in his head.
.
Though not letter perfect in his lines on opening night, Forbrich makes
the
amiable, everyman Watson a fitting contrast to the brilliant Holmes.
The
actor is particularly winning as he shyly woos Mary, in a subplot created
in
this stage version of the tale.
Martin is charming as the resourceful Mary, whose deductive powers are
almost as keen as Holmes'.
Supporting actors play several roles. Among them, Linda Kimborough stands
out as Mrs. Hudson, the housekeeper who keeps Holmes on his best behavior,
and Bill McGough as Inspector Jones, a police chief as thick as the London
fog.
Pickering is resourceful in his use of the stage. He sends actors on
several
laps around the set when to convey the idea that they are approaching
the
house from some distance, and he creates a serviceable carriage out of
a few
chairs and a stepladder.
His version of Toby, the dog, who can follow any scent, is a howl.
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