LEISURE

‘Baskerville’ will impress audiences

Michael Lundy (from left), Russell Clements and Robin Thompson are featured in the Scripps Ranch Theatre production of “Baskerville.” (photo by Ken Jacques)

‘Baskerville’ will impress audiences

Originally published by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1902, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is one of the most well-known stories featuring the famous Sherlock Holmes. Today, more than 100 years later, director Charles Peters is bringing Ken Ludwig’s 2015 adaptation of the iconic story, titled “Baskerville,” to life on the stage for Scripps Ranch Theatre.

Based on Doyle’s original work, “Baskerville” sees Sir Henry, heir to the Baskerville estate, helped by Holmes and Watson as they attempt to protect him from a family curse. However, this is not your typical mystery thriller.

Peters described the show as a farce, explaining, “There’s a lot of craziness in this show. So much is going on, there’s something for everyone.”

The show even extends beyond the stage, with characters breaking the fourth wall with some audience interaction and participation.

“You’ve never seen Holmes like this,” Peters said.

According to Peters, the cast has become a real family, with much laughter and bonding during rehearsal.

“Sometimes two of them can’t even get through a scene because they just crack up looking at each other,” he said. “There’s a real level of closeness there. It’s not something you can fake.”

This cast certainly has to be close, composed of only five actors in total, with three of these five having to portray 40 characters combined.

Robin Thompson (from left), Michelle Marie Trester and Michael Lundy enjoy a light moment in preparation for “Baskerville.” (photo by Ken Jacques)

This three-person ensemble is comprised up of Russell Clements, Michelle Marie Trester and Bob Himlin. Peters described Clements as “younger, but just so experienced,” commending his willingness to jump into any role with no fear.

Trester is similarly experienced, performing on stages throughout San Diego and beyond.

“She’s full of accents in this role,” Peters said. “Some authentic, some hilarious, some both.”

Finally, Himlin plays the titular Sir Henry Baskerville himself, with Peters explaining, “He contributes a genuine swagger and soundness to the stage.”

Separate from the ensemble, seasoned actors Robin Thompson and Michael Lundy portray the dynamic duo of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, respectively. Peters tells of how they each bring something unique to their characters, with Thompson contributing a real wonder and mystery to his Holmes, while Lundy has “a real heart … A real sense of loyalty.”

The chemistry between these two onstage helps the audience settle in for a real treat of unique storytelling.

While the show is great fun for the audience, it, like every other show, has faced its share of challenges during production. As mentioned earlier, three actors playing 40 characters can be admittedly difficult, with the cast needing to craft dozens of characters that are notably different from one another. In hand with that, quick changes are necessary, many of which are onstage. Peters even reveals that costumer Debby Sullivan began work in October for this show’s wardrobe.

Furthermore, staging “Baskerville” was a challenge in and of itself, Peters said.

“The set is fairly minimal because we don’t have the luxury of huge set pieces,” he said. Because of how quickly the show changes scenes, Peters worked with the set designer to create sets that are abstract, both visually interesting and fluid. This way, rapid scene changes are not bogged down by moving set pieces.

“One minute we’re indoors at Baker Street, then on a busy street, then at the train station, and we’re just moving so fast there’s no time for a big set,” Peters explained.

As a whole, “Baskerville” is sure to enthrall audiences.

“There’s a whole lot going on here,” Peters said. “Come and laugh, but also be intrigued by the mystery.”

“Baskerville” runs from March 23 to April 22, with shows every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and every Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Legler Benbough Theater on the Alliant International University campus, 9783 Avenue of Nations.

408 thoughts on “‘Baskerville’ will impress audiences
  1. Pingback: 3dispatched
  2. Hey there! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same subjects as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other. If you might be interested feel free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Awesome blog by the way!

  3. Hi! I’ve been following your site for a long time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from New Caney Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the excellent job!

  4. My brother suggested I would possibly like this website. He was totally right. This submit actually made my day. You cann’t consider just how so much time I had spent for this information! Thank you!

  5. I don’t know if it’s just me or if everyone else experiencing problems with your website. It looks like some of the text within your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them too? This might be a problem with my browser because I’ve had this happen before. Thank you

  6. I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don’t know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!

  7. I was wondering if you ever considered changing the page layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?

  8. I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this one nowadays.

  9. I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don’t know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!

  10. Im not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back down the road. Cheers

  11. Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s difficult to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and visual appeal. I must say that you’ve done a awesome job with this. In addition, the blog loads very fast for me on Internet explorer. Superb Blog!

  12. Link exchange is nothing else except it is simply placing the other person’s website link on your page at appropriate place and other person will also do same for you.

  13. Nice blog here! Also your website loads up fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol

  14. I do consider all the ideas you have introduced on your post. They are very convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are too brief for newbies. May just you please extend them a bit from next time? Thank you for the post.

  15. I will right away seize your rss as I can not in finding your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please permit me recognize so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.

  16. Sweet blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News. Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Cheers

  17. I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts in this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i’m glad to show that I have a very just right uncanny feeling I came upon exactly what I needed. I such a lot no doubt will make certain to don?t fail to remember this site and give it a look on a continuing basis.

  18. you are in reality a just right webmaster. The web site loading speed is incredible. It sort of feels that you are doing any unique trick. Also, The contents are masterpiece. you have performed a great process in this matter!

  19. I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. thanks a lot

  20. I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for. Do you offer guest writers to write content to suit your needs? I wouldn’t mind creating a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write about here. Again, awesome web log!

  21. Хотите заказать стяжку пола в Москве, но не знаете, где искать надежного подрядчика? Обратитесь к нам на сайт styazhka-pola24.ru! Мы предоставляем услуги по устройству стяжки пола м2 по доступной стоимости, а также устройству стяжки пола под ключ.

  22. Undeniably believe that that you stated. Your favourite justification appeared to be at the net the simplest thing to have in mind of. I say to you, I definitely get irked at the same time as folks consider concerns that they plainly do not recognize about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the top as smartlyand also defined out the whole thing with no need side effect , other folks can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thank you

  23. Позвольте себе быстрое и качественное оштукатуривание стен. Откройте для себя современные методы на нашем сайте mehanizirovannaya-shtukaturka-moscow.ru

  24. hi!,I love your writing so much! proportion we keep up a correspondence more approximately your post on AOL? I need an expert in this area to solve my problem. May be that is you! Looking forward to see you.

  25. My brother suggested I might like this website. He was totally right. This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!

  26. Good day I am so excited I found your weblog, I really found you by mistake, while I was browsing on Google for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say many thanks for a fantastic post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I dont have time to read through it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the awesome jo.

  27. Hi there! This article couldn’t be written any better! Looking at this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a very good read. Thanks for sharing!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *