[Ad- gifted experience] Sherlock Holmes is an iconic, household name, and as such there is a lot to live up to! We went to see Sherlock Holmes and the Hunt for Moriarty at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch. This performance had a lot of characters played by medium sized cast, with many switching characters throughout the show. Watson was both the character and the narrator, needing to switch seamlessly between the role. There were a bunch of costumes used to subtly change the characters as well, so that side characters were all different. These costume changes were quick, between moments, which was very impressive!
When it came to the use of the stage in Sherlock Holmes and the Hunt for Moriarty was very lovely. They had a bunch of different words or small details projected onto the walls of the stage, which gave a lot more depth to what was going on. This one room stage also morphed, as they moved some panels backwards and forwards, creating different micro-sets around the outside. They also had actors dressed as officers changing the furniture – there were a lot of room resets – which brought more to the stage. The way that it changed was very impressive!
Like you would expect with this sort of play, Sherlock Holmes and the Hunt for Moriarty had a lot of curious twists, strange moments, and points where Sherlock was “showing off” by doing strings of bits of information for people. There was a lot of mystery and trying to figure out exactly who the bad guy was – who Moriarty was – and what was going to ultimately happen to the detective. As Watson was telling the story, there were clues that something had happened to Sherlock, but we weren’t sure what!
Dann and I quite enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and the Hunt for Moriarty – the play was a bit slow paced, but in a way that unravelled itself over time, without giving too much away. I did find that the number of characters each actor was playing was slightly confusing when I first saw them out, but over time this became easier to understand, especially as characters were killed off! It’s a performance well worth watching, especially if you like detective mysteries.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!
We enjoy going to the theatre too as a family. Sherlock Holmes looks like an interesting play to go and see and it sounds like the cast do a really great job!