Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear Review

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Tue 07 Feb 2023 - Thu 09 Feb 2023

He is the ace detective of all time - and a new stage adaptation is proving just why Sherlock Holmes remains at the very top of the crime-solving tree. The master of 221B Baker Street has enthralled crime-fiction lovers for well over a century, and his enduring popularity clearly knows no bounds on the basis of this thrilling and captivating play at the Lichfield Garrick theatre in Staffordshire. The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, although it was first published in a London magazine as far back as September 1914. The familiar pipe-smoking Sherlock has been portrayed on both the small and large screen by some of the finest actors throughout the intervening years, from Peter Cushing to Benedict Cumberbatch. But few can have played the super-sleuth more expertly than Luke Barton in this outstanding new touring stage production. It is worthy praise - from this writer anyway - to say that Luke has much of the feel of Dr Who actor Matt Smith about him.



The Valley of Fear is presented by the excellent Blackeyed Theatre , in association with South Hill Park. The story is loosely based on the Molly Maguires, a 19th century Irish secret society, and Pinkerton detective agent James McParland. In Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear, which has been adapted for the stage by Nick Lane, the story is told in two time-zones 20 years apart. It starts in the 'present' - 1895 in this case - before the first of regular flashbacks to 1875 Pennsylvania in the United States. The outstanding five-strong cast has to play numerous roles in both time-zones, including Luke who appears in flashback as nasty thug Teddy Baldwin. It could be confusing, but the production cleverly uses strands of American traditional music to introduce each step back in time to 1875 Pennsylvania.



The story starts with the typically arrogant and infuriating Holmes reciting the phrase "quite the most brutal crime I have seen", while his loyal assistant Dr John Watson, equally superbly played by Joseph Derrington, types the finishing touches to the case of The Valley of Fear. A mysterious, coded message is then delivered as a warning of imminent danger, drawing Holmes and Watson into a tale of intrigue and murder stretching from an ancient moated manor house in England to the bleak Vermissa Valley in Pennsylvania. Needless to say, the events on opposite sides of the Atlantic, separated by two decades, gradually come aligned in this excellent yarn crammed full of adventure and mystery. The Valley of Fear is also renowned for introducing the sinister character of Professor Moriarty into the Sherlock Holmes stories.



The rest of the cast is made up of Blake Kubena, who is excellent in roles ranging from Jack McMurdo in 1875 to Det White Mason in the present. So too is Alice Osmanski as everyone from Mrs Hudson to a US detective, and Gavin Molloy as Insp McDonald and Boss McGinty among others.

Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear continues at the Lichfield Garrick until Thursday 9th February. Tickets priced £24 are available from www.lichfieldgarrick.com or the box office on 01543 412121.

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