"Sherlock Holmes" in Leeds
"Sherlock Holmes" in Leeds is an article published in The Yorkshire Evening Post on 29 april 1902.
About the play Sherlock Holmes at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, UK.
"Sherlock Holmes" in Leeds
MR. WILLIAM GILLETTE'S PRODUCTION AT THE GRAND THEATRE.
The reader of any of Conan Doyle's thrilling detective stories is introduced to the culprits in the last chapter. In "The Strange Case of Mrs. Faulkner," as pourtrayed by Mr. William Gillette's Company at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, this week, the "house" is made acquainted with the guilty parties in the very first scene; the revelation follows of the means adopted by Sherlock Holmes to bring the sinners within the clutch of the law.
In judging of the merits of Mr. Gillette's production one must not test it by a literal comparison with any of Conan Doyle's stories, nor need one be worried with reflections as to whether a detective with such highly theoretical methods as Sherlock Holmes, could ever hope to succeed in the real world of crime. Ine basis of criticism should rather be:— (1) Is Conan Doyle's ingenious and unique conception of Sherlock Holmes faithfully represented by Mr. Gillette? (2) Do his other leading characters assume in this play an interesting and artistic form of flesh and blood, and (3) Does the bringing together of these charters upon the stage produce a spectacle calculated to please the majority of playgoers?
In feature, temperament, voice, and gesture Mr. William Gillette last night seemed Sherlock Holmes alive, this spells of calm cigarette-smoking serenny, his chilling cynicism, his momentary bursts of passionate enthusiasm, and throughout his extreme intensity — all these familiar characteristics of the familiar Sherlock Holmes were emphasised, without being exaggerated, by the celebrated American actor.
In the first act the mystery is solved as far as the audience are concerned. The detention of Mrs. and Miss Faulkner in the house of a pair of finely dressed, smooth-tongued blackmailers, who by the aid of a packet of incriminating love letters and photographs, of which they fruitlessly endeavour to gain possession, hope to extract from an erring foreign noble man large suns of silence-gold is the tale unfolded. With Sherlock Holmes on their track, the villains seek the sid of Professor Moriarty, "the Napoleon of Criminals" — a part which is powerfully pourtrayed by Mr. W. L. Abington. The respective offices of Moriarty and Holmes are revealed in the second act. The one is the well-furnished sitting-room in Baker Street; the other a mysterious underground chamber. Both are fitted with a plenitude of telephones, bells, speaking tubes, and a variety of other constructions necessary to the up-to-date managing director. Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes are indeed managing directors — the one of the world of crime, the other of the mighty organisation of criminal investigators.
Mr. Gillette and Mr. Abington are supported by a strong company. Mr. Percy Lyndal gives a modest interpretation of Dr. Watson; Mr. Sydney Herbert represents Sherlock Holmes's smart assistant, John Forman, the butler, etc.; James Larrabee, of the Moriarty school, is cleverly depicted by Mr. Ralph Delmore. while Mr. Harry Paulton, jun., lightens the play by the amount of humour he puts into Sidney Prince, the criminal's locksmith. As the ambitious, scheming Madge Larrabee, nothing could be finer than the acting of Miss Alice Cortelyou, and Mrs. Faulkner and Miss Alice are in the respective hands of Miss Gertrude Young and Miss Amy Betteley.
The stage effects are distinctly American-hence novel. Instead of the curtain dropping immediately at the close of each act, down goes the light, and the figures on the stage fade out of sight, their shadows reappearing in a moment by the light of a few red electric lamps that suddenly shed forth their dim rays from unusual corners of the theatre. These silent moments of complete darkness are intended to deepen the feeling of the house," and to provide a still further topic for conversation during what, on the programme, are des cribed as the "intermissions."
