Loretta Tolnai’s production for the Genesian Theatre Company of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic tale ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ was an entertaining production.

The story is set in Victorian England at a place called Baskerville Hall, a fictional location in the British village of Dartmoor. One day the dead body of local aristocrat Sir Charles is found in the nearby moors. Locals fear that his death is the work of the ghostly hound that roams the nearby moors.
Sir Charles’s son, Sir Henry, who arrives back from America, is more circumspect, and decides to call in the services of the legendary detective team, Sherlock Holmes and his colleague, Dr Watson to try to solve the mystery.

Tolnai’s direction was clear, and the pacing was good. Owen Gimblett’s set of the living room of a stately aristocratic home, Susan Carveth’s costumes and Kit Messham-Muir’s wall paintings faithfully recreated the period. Michael Schell’s sound design, incorporating the use of classical music tracks and of-course the eerie sounds of the baying hound, added to the play’s tension.

Keith McIlroy as Sherlock Holmes, Richard Sherwood as Doctor Watson and Jeremy Fletcher as Sir Henry gave solid performances in the leading roles. The pick of the supporting cast were Ann Leslie as the maid Perkins, Bill Lameny as Mr Barrymore and Yasmina Wicks as Laura Lyons.