"Sherlock Holmes" at the Theatre Royal
"Sherlock Holmes" at the Theatre Royal is an article published in the Evening Telegraph (Dublin) on 20 may 1902.
About the play Sherlock Holmes at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, Ireland.
"Sherlock Holmes" at the Theatre Royal
The magic title of "Sherlock Holmes" and the well-known name of Mr. William Gillette would be sufficient in themselves to account for the packed and fashionable audience in the Royal last night. The novelty of the theme, so different from the ordinary run of plays, and the strange lighting and scenic effects which the genius of Mr. Gillette has introduced to make the doings of the famous detective still more weird and realistic, combined with the likeness of Mr. Gillette to the character which has almost grown to be a real figure in the public mind, have given the audience full value for their money. The plot of the play is laid in London, in the house of the Larabees. They have got a young lady in their power who has compromising papers which may be come of considerable value in the future. We must confess that in the development of the plot some pretty cheap effects are introduced, more redolent of the cheap detective novel than of the high-class strain which is so much expected in the delicate finesse of the methods of Sherlock Holmes. But one must make allowances in a play which has to depend on scenic effects and dramatic tableaux. Of Mr. Gillette's acting, it is enough to say that he is to the very life the character which Dr. Conan Doyle has made his fame upon. He is very well supported by his large company. As Dr. Watson, Mr. Percy Lyndal is very natural. Mr. Sydney Herbert makes a good John Forman; and James Larabee is made sufficiently detestable — which is the author's intention by Mr. Ralph Denmore. Sir Edward Leighton finds a capable exponent in Mr. J. A. Rosier. Professor Moriarity, the man who tries to pit his strength and his machinations against Sherlock Holmes, is in the well-trained hands of Mr. W. L. Abingdon. In the famous scene in the second act, where ne so contrives to get the famous detective into his clutches as to remove, to his mind, every obstacle, it is quite praise enough to say that he acts up to Mr. Gillette. Miss Amy Betteley got a big reception as Alice Faulkner, and Madge Larrabee shows the training of a cultivated artiste in a trying part, as pourtrayed by Miss Alida Cortelyon. The other parts are deserving of all praise, and it is difficult to single out any particular person for special mention; still we cannot pass the quiet electiveness of Mr. Henry M'Ardle as Billy, and the equally natural effect of Mr. David Campbell as John. The little French maid Therese finds a naive exponent in Miss Louise Collins.
The setting of the scenes is very good, and the effects caused by the sudden darkening of the whole theatre at the end of certain scenes is in keeping with the general tenor of the piece. The programme of music between the acts includes The Beautiful Galatea" (Suppe), and the waltz Wiener Blut," from Strauss.
