Sherlock Holmes - The Pantaloons

I’ve written before about The Pantaloons. And I’ve written before about the Devonshire Park Theatre in my home town of Eastbourne. So to write about them together is something of a joy.

I saw The Pantaloons’ Sherlock Holmes at the DPT on Wednesday 16^th April 2014 (at the evening performance). I’d seen their Sherlock Holmes early on in last year’s run, but this year’s version – now indoors and with a slightly tweaked cast – is an even slicker, funnier and more confident production.

All the cast are seasoned Pantaloons now. Three of the cast were in the previous tour – although last year’s Watson is now Holmes (Edward Ferrow, faintly Cumberbatch-like in this role) – and the new Watson (Christopher Smart, a gleefully wicked improviser) has been in various other shows with The Pantaloons. They all know exactly how to work an audience: how to interact with them and improvise around them; how to milk a laugh.

And the gags are just as silly as last year. The variations on ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ are still groan-worthily funny, and I’m not sure I’d ever get tired of the Circle Line joke.

Like Gary, the audience member who had been at both the matinee and the evening performance that day, I have yet to see the alternative version of this production, where the stories and roles are different. Both this time and last time I saw it, the audience chose to see the story of The League of Red Headed Men – meaning, as a consequence, that I’ve seen cast member Isaac Leafe twice now as Moriarty, but never Elliot Quinn.

But even with the same rendering of the play on offer (and how many companies would give you an option, anyway?), no two performances by The Pantaloons are ever exactly the same.


After seeing Filter’s Twelfth Night at the DPT recently, it’s great to see another fresh, slightly anarchic production again there so soon. I love the Devonshire Park as a theatre, and it’s fantastic to see more of the kind of theatre I enjoy being put on at the Devonshire Park.


The Pantaloons are on tour with Sherlock Holmes until the end of April. Full tour details can be found on their website.

If you want to know how my review of the 2014 Sherlock Holmes compares to last year’s, you can find my thoughts from 2013 here.

Sherlock Holmes - The Pantaloons

Playful, fun, inventive, silly, clever. If you’ve seen a Pantaloons show before, you’ll already know the adjectives I’m going to use. Irreverent – that’s another one.

The Pantaloons are touring two productions this summer, and I went to see their Sherlock Holmes when they stopped off at The Scoop at More London on Thursday 13^th June.

This production features an all-new cast for The Pantaloons, and, with it being early in the tour, I did get the feeling that some of them are still getting used to The Pantaloons’ brand of carefully-constructed anarchy. But the ingredients are all there – the audience interaction, the over-the-top characterisations, the songs, the self-referential jokes, the doubling up of roles – and, despite the lack of familiar faces, this is definitely still a Pantaloons show.

There’s always a slightly pantomime-like feel to Pantaloons productions, and Sherlock Holmes is no exception. With an all-male cast, comprising one Holmes, one Watson, and two energetic others playing all the remaining roles, there’s plenty of cross-dressing – and knowing references to their casting choices.

Mrs Hudson’s grumble that she’s not a tea lady – in fact she’s not even a lady elicits a big laugh from the audience, and the justification of alternating who gets to play the role of Moriarty is inspired. I couldn’t help thinking of the recent NT production of Frankenstein at this point, where Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternated the roles of Frankenstein and his monster.

Of course, both of these actors have played modern-day Sherlocks in recent years – and, of course, both of those adaptations (along with the Robert Downey Jr. films) are referenced by The Pantaloons in this production. If there is a contemporary reference to be made, rest assured that The Pantaloons will make it. I suppose that’s another way it’s all a bit like panto.

Personally, my favourite bits of Sherlock Holmes were the silliest bits: Holmes and Moriarty jumping and sinking very slowly to their (presumed) deaths; Elliot Quinn’s noisy Dr Roylott in the tale of The Speckled Band; the so-much-fun-they-did-it-twice Circle Line gag. It’s that mix of self-referential knowingness and pure, exuberant silliness that makes Pantaloons productions such a joy to watch and interact with.

I’m looking forward to seeing their take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream later in the season.

The Pantaloons are on tour with Sherlock Holmes and A Midsummer Night's Dream at venues across the UK this summer. Take a look at their website for full tour details: www.thepantaloons.co.uk

 

UPDATE APRIL 2014: You can see my review of the 2014 indoor tour version of this production here