‘Sherlock’ at Stagecrafters:

Great thriller; comedy so-so

By HUGH HUNTER

Stagecrafters opened its fall series last weekend with Sherlock’s Last Case, written by Charles Marowitz. In this play, Sherlock Holmes receives a letter from Damion Moriarty, the son of his archenemy, Professor Moriarty. Damion vows to avenge his father’s death, and includes a cryptic riddle for the famous sleuth. Holmes knows only one thing for certain: someone is planning his death.

Holmes (played by Kevin McLernon) is so convincingly obnoxious that there is no lack of suspects. While Moriarty is the arch-villain, Holmes proceeds to create an entire universe of hostility. He is smug and supercilious. He seizes upon every occasion to correct the hapless Watson, or be callous and condescending to high-strung Mrs. Hudson. He is full of snobby references to the working classes and offers a host of misogynistic observations. He is, in short, a class-conscious oaf.

The actors perform splendidly in presenting caricatures of figures already familiar to us from the Sherlock Holmes canon. Mrs. Hudson (Jane Mebus) is a near-hysterical, jittery Scotswoman who constantly jars Sherlock’s delicate sensibility. Inspector Lestrade (Dan Buck) is useless to crime solving as always, but adds elements of mindless hyperactivity. Liza Moriarty (Sarah Kiefer) is a stagy ingénue with a hidden agenda. (She also makes a cute Damion.) Dr. Watson (Richard Geller) is totally servile in the beginning, enduring the master’s hauteur while following him around like a puppy. Geller’s stage movement throughout is excellent, and he does a fine job of portraying the shifts in Watson’s consciousness.

At the level of script, however, Sherlock’s Last Case is difficult to manage because of confusion in genre. It is a self-described “comedy/thriller,” mixing humor with suspense. While this combination is manageable, the script also gives us two forms of comedy. The spoofs and send-ups are entertaining in themselves. But the play goes on to explore the dark comedy inherent in what can only be called “sick relationships.” As a result, there are times when the audience is disengaged, not knowing in which mode of comedy to invest its emotion.

The “thriller” aspect of the play holds up better, and its surprising twists keep us in suspense. The directors (Marilyn Yoblick and David Flagg) push the pace in the effort to keep us guessing. The major stage set is a fine recreation of a Victorian drawing room. A second set creates a spooky cellar where the foul murder is planned. Music is used creatively to segue into new sets, as well as to underscore dramatic moments within a scene. But I cannot speak further about the suspense/thriller plot elements without being a spoiler. And as this Sherlock might say, that sort of thing is simply not done among the better classes.

The Stagecrafters is located at 8130 Germantown Ave. Sherlock’s Last Case will run from Thursday, 9/23, to Sunday, 9/26, and Thursday, 9/30, to Saturday, 10/2. Shows are at 8 p.m. weekdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Reservations can be made at 215-247-8881. All tickets are $15; group rates available.