VIDEO: The game is afoot for Sherlock Holmes

It’s time to dig out your magnifying glass, pipe and deerstalker hat in preparation for the theatrical event of the year as master detective Sherlock Holmes heads to Buxton.
Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes

The Pantaloons theatre company are touring their action-packed and delightfully inventive production of Sherlock Holmes to theatres around the country - and it arrives at the Pavilion Arts Centre on Wednesday March 26.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories of Holmes and his amiable sidekick Dr Watson are enduringly popular and this new adaptation by writer/director Mark Hayward will deliver a mash-up of the canon’s best bits and a few surprises along the way.

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For Holmes fans the show promises to be reassuringly familiar yet also very different to any other version out there thanks to The Pantaloons’ unique style.

Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes

The critically-acclaimed Pantaloons began life ten years ago as an open-air theatre company, busking plays for donations in parks and on the streets, where they developed an attention-grabbing, interactive and playful performance style.

“We characterise our work as post-modern folk theatre,” said Hayward, a founding member of the Essex-based company.

“We take well-loved tales and give them a contemporary twist, making them accessible for new audiences and showing seasoned fans something that they perhaps had not seen in them before.”

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The Pantaloons pride themselves on creating interactive shows that can vary wildly from performance to performance – and Sherlock Holmes will do so to a very great extent.

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Hayward continued: “The outcome of the play can be very different at each performance.

“In fact, depending on suggestions from the audience, the show will change a lot. It’s a very exciting concept but we don’t want to spoil anything by revealing too much here.”

In true Pantaloons tradition the show will also include plenty of original live music and improvisation but at all times the production will remain faithful to the spirit of the source material.

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“The real strength of the Holmes stories, aside from the adventure elements and clever mysteries, is the relationship between Holmes and Watson and brilliant dialogue that still sparkles straight off the page,” added Hayward.

“It makes adapting the stories for stage a real joy.”

Tickets for Sherlock Holmes at the Pavilion Arts Centre on Wednesday March 26, at 7.30pm, are priced £11 and £13.

They can be purchased from the opera house box office on 0845 127 2190, or online at www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk.