Sherlock Holmes (play 1899)

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Sherlock Holmes (1899)

Sherlock Holmes: The Strange Case of Miss Faulkner is an American play in 4 acts, produced by Charles Frohman, written by Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette, performed for the first time on 12 june 1899 at the Duke of York Theatre (London, UK), on 23 october 1899 in Buffalo (NY, USA) and on 6 november 1899 in Broadway, New York (NY, USA).

Though the play was written at first by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1897, William Gillette re-wrote it so much that the story is very different than the original one. The original manuscript was lost in a fire (see article) and presumably rewritten by Gillette.

Note that the very first performance given at the Duke of York's Theatre (London), for copyright purposes, in presence of an audience comprising three persons only : Charles Frohman, William Gillette and Annie Russell. So William Gillette was not the first one to perform Sherlock Holmes of his own play.



Conan Doyle about the play

In 1923, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in chapter XI. Sidelights on Sherlock Holmes of his auto-biography Memories and Adventures:

« ... about the first [play], which was produced very much earlier, in fact at the time of the African war. It was written and most wonderfully acted by William Gillette, the famous American. Since he used my characters and to some extent my plots, he naturally gave me a share in the undertaking, which proved to be very successful. "May I marry Holmes?" was one cable which I received from him when in the throes of composition. "You may marry or murder or do what you like with him," was my heartless reply. I was charmed both with the play, the acting and the pecuniary result. I think that every man with a drop of artistic blood in his veins would agree that the latter consideration, though very welcome when it does arrive, is still the last of which he thinks. »


See also:


Text of the play


First Casts

Copyright performance at the Duke of York Theatre, London (12 june 1899) [1]


Official Premiere at the Star Theater, Buffalo, NY, USA (23-25 october 1899)

Ad in Buffalo Courier (22 october 1899, p. 23)


Photos



Acts

  • Act 1 : Drawing Room at the Larrabees — Evening.
  • Act 2 :
    • Scene 1 : Professor Moriarty's Underground Office — Morning.
    • Scene 2 : Sherlock Holmes Appartments in Baker Street — Evening.
  • Act 3 : The Stepney Gas Chamber — Midnight.
  • Act 4 : Doctor Watson's Consulting Room — Kensington — The Following Evening.


Performances (1899-today)

Year Performance S.H. Perfomer(s) Country
12.06.1899 Sherlock Holmes Herbert Waring UK
23.10.1899 Sherlock Holmes William Gillette USA
1899 Sherlock Holmes Reuben Fax CA
1901 Sherlock Holmes William Gillette UK
1901 Sherlock Holmes Cuyler Hastings USA
1901 Sherlock Holmes T. A. Shannon UK
1901 Sherlock Holmes Ernest Bliss UK
1901 Sherlock Holmes J. S. Crawley UK
1901 Sherlock Holmes Fred Sargent UK
1902-1907 Sherlock Holmes Herbert Kelcey USA
1902 Sherlock Holmes Jens F. S. Dorph-Petersen DK
1902 Sherlock Holmes Vilhelm Birch DK
1902 Sherlock Holmes Julian Royce UK
1902 Sherlock Holmes Knut Nyblom SE
1902 Sherlock Holmes Hr. Bergvall SE
1902 Sherlock Holmes Emil Ljungqvist SE
1902 Sherlock Holmes Ingolf Schanche NO
1902 Sherlock Holmes Hr. Bergendorff SE
1902-1904 Sherlock Holmes Harry Primmer AU
1902-1905 Sherlock Holmes H. A. Saintsbury UK
1903-1913 Sherlock Holmes Hugo Rönnblad SE
1905 Sherlock Holmes Kenneth Rivington UK
1905-1906 Sherlock Holmes H. Lawrence Leyton UK
1906 Sherlock Holmes Lothar Mayring DE
1906-1907 Шерлокъ Хольмсъ Boris Glagolin RU
1906-1907 Шерлокъ Хольмсъ Mirsky RU
1907 Шерлокъ Хольмсъ Evgeny Alasheyevsky RU
20.12.1907 Sherlock Holmes Firmin Gémier FR
1908 Sherlock Holmes Saint-Germain FR
1908 Sherlock Holmes Claude King JP
1908 Sherlock Holmes H. Hamilton Stewart UK
20.01.1908 Sherlock Holmes Albert Bozenhard CH
22.04.1908 Sherlock Holmes Enric Gimenez ES
11.05.1908 Sherlock Holmes Henry Krauss FR
18.05.1908 Sherlock Holmes Georges Flateau FR
20.09.1908 Sherlock Holmes Paul Chevalet FR
30.10.1908 Sherlock Holmes Lombard FR
06.11.1908 Sherlock Holmes M. Coursière CH
1912 Sherlock Holmes J. Anthony Smythe USA
1912 Шерлокъ Хольмсъ Stronsky RU
1913 Шерлокъ Хольмсъ Snezhinsky RU
1913 Sherlock Holmes William Larsson SE
1913 Scherlock Holmes Camille Bert RU
1919 Sherlock Holmes Leo Trood UK
1919 Sherlock Holmes Leonard Tremayne UK
1919 Sherlock Holmes Harold Holland UK
23.07.1919 Sherlock Holmes Landers Stevens USA
1926 Sherlock Holmes John Blake UK
1928 Sherlock Holmes Robert Warwick USA
1930 Sherlock Holmes Noel Howlett UK
1931 Sherlock Holmes Paul Lorraine UK
1932 Sherlock Holmes William Gillette CA
1936 Sherlock Holmes George Farrington USA
1941 Sherlock Holmes Robert Claborne USA
1946 Sherlock Holmes Leo Brady USA
1948 Sherlock Holmes David Lewis USA
1949 Sherlock Holmes Walter Covell USA
1952 Sherlock Holmes Alfred Burke UK
1952 Sherlock Holmes John Glendinning USA
1963 Sherlock Holmes Richard Pounder USA
1969 Sherlock Holmes Robert Cripps CA
1970 Sherlock Holmes Geoffrey Keller USA
1972 Sherlock Holmes Richard Ramos USA
1973 Sherlock Holmes Jonathan Farwell,Thomas Recca,
Richard Fancy, Clay Miller
USA
1974 Sherlock Holmes Timothy Crowe USA
1974 Sherlock Holmes Joe Aubuchon USA
1974 Sherlock Holmes Larry R. Ballard USA
1974 Sherlock Holmes Patrick Horgan USA
1974 Sherlock Holmes John Wylie USA
07.10.1974 Sherlock Holmes John Wood USA
22.04.1975 Sherlock Holmes Patrick Horgan USA
13.05.1975 Sherlock Holmes John Neville USA
19.08.1975 Sherlock Holmes Robert Stephens USA
1975 Sherlock Holmes George Moran USA
1975 Sherlock Holmes Ferrel Hinds USA
1975 Sherlock Holmes Layne Montgomery USA
1975 Sherlock Holmes Michael Maroney USA
1975 Sherlock Holmes John Colicos USA
1975 Sherlock Holmes Mark Kuechle USA
1976 Sherlock Holmes Kurt Ingvall FI
1976 Sherlock Holmes Leonard Nimoy USA
1976 Sherlock Holmes Robert Stephens CA
1976 Sherlock Holmes Alan Rickman UK
1976 Sherlock Holmes Paul Webster UK
1977 Sherlock Holmes John Michalski USA
1977 Sherlock Holmes Keith Decker USA
1977 Sherlock Holmes Ira Pierson USA
1977 Sherlock Holmes Frank Langella USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes William Quiett USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes Rand Earl USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes Kirt Kisling USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes John Ortman USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes Christopher Lowry USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes Phil Heckman USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes Stevan Sylvester USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes Robert Lanchester USA
1978 Sherlock Holmes Nat Wilson USA
1979 Sherlock Holmes Bill Becker USA
1979 Sherlock Holmes C. Linwood Duncan USA
1979 Sherlock Holmes Jan Smith AU
1980 Sherlock Holmes Edwin Tunna UK
1980 Sherlock Holmes Sverre Anker Ousdal NO
1980 Sherlock Holmes David Watson USA
1980 Sherlock Holmes Bjørn Watt-Boolsen DK
1980 Sherlock Holmes Nafe Katter USA
1980 Sherlock Holmes Campbell McComas AU
1981 Sherlock Holmes Frank Langella USA
1981 Sherlock Holmes Christian Mathisen USA
1981 Sherlock Holmes Laurence Carter UK
1981 Sherlock Holmes Paijl Nieman USA
1982 Sherlock Holmes Jon Mullich USA
1982 Sherlock Holmes Martin Buckley USA
1982 Sherlock Holmes James Garner USA
1982 Sherlock Holmes Matthew Symonds USA
1982 Sherlock Holmes 1 Paul Guers FR
1983 Sherlock Holmes Donald Wright USA
1983 Sherlock Holmes George Gitto USA
1984 Sherlock Holmes Philip Clayton-Gore UK
1985 Sherlock Holmes Paul Webster UK
1986 Sherlock Holmes Jeffrey Agnitsch USA
1986 Sherlock Holmes Robert Albright USA
1986 Sherlock Holmes Bob Burchette USA
1986 Sherlock Holmes Jonathan Dienes USA
1987 Sherlock Holmes Mark Medoff USA
1988 Sherlock Holmes Roger Robinson USA
1989 Sherlock Holmes Bob McGranahan USA
1989 Sherlock Holmes John Judy USA
1990 Sherlock Holmes Ian LeValley USA
28.06.1990 Sherlock Holmes Christopher Lloyd USA
1994 Sherlock Holmes Jim Mezon USA
2003 Sherlock Holmes Stephen Kunken USA
2008 Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure Jeffrey T. Heyer CA
2013 Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure Spencer Tomlin USA
2013 Sherlock Holmes Andreas Malits AU
2013 Sherlock Holmes Charles Schoenfeld USA
01.07.2015 Sherlock Holmes Antoine Sciacco FR
20.05.2016 Шерлок Холмс Vladas Bagdonas RU
08.09.2016 Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure Jonathan Brandt USA
13.12.2016 Sherlock Holmes Julian Farrance UK
13.11.2019 Sherlock Holmes Brendan Purcell UK
16.02.2023 Sherlock Holmes and The Thalassic Room Carys Hrebenar UK






  1. The Daily Telegraph (15 june 1899, p. 7)
    The Era (17 june 1899, p. 12)
    Auckland Star (12 august 1899)