Everybody knows Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, but do you know Mrs Hudson, Mary Watson, and Irene Adler? So frequently these women have been side-lined, but this performance gives them a voice and a platform in the form of the cosy living room setting of 221B Baker Street.
You would barely know that this is a one-woman show, from the detailed costumes to the strong sense of personality developed for each individual character, it really feels like three different women. Their accents differ, and their mannerisms, creating immersive, fleshed-out characters who the audience truly begin to root for.
The character of Mary was superb, inducing a real stillness in the room as she recounted the way in which she had been side-lined in her husband Dr Watson’s life in favour of Sherlock Holmes. Delivered with such authentic emotion, its impossible not to feel sympathy for this character.
The positioning of the audience as guests in 221B Baker street waiting for Holmes to return was a clever way to create an immersive environment, where the audience became truly engrossed in the performance. However, it may have been down to the heat, but the show did begin to drag somewhat towards the end. It may have benefitted from being condensed into 45 minutes rather than an hour.
While this show most certainly does not pass the Bechdel test, this highlights the extent to which these three women’s lives have been dictated by Holmes and Watson, and how they don’t seem to have an identity independent of them. While this was an important point to call out, it would have been nice to see the performance combat this portrayal by giving the women identities and experiences which stretched beyond the influence of Holmes and Watson. In this way, the show might break from rather than reinforce the restricted nature of the women’s identities.
Overall, this was an enjoyable show, particularly for fans of Sherlock Holmes, truly giving voice to the previously silenced women on the narrative. Well-thought out and immersive, this performance is certainly worth a watch.
Baker Street Ladies is running every other day until 23 August (excluding 17th) at the Annexe at theSpace at Symposium Hall.
Buy tickets here.
Image courtesy of Richard Daniels, provided to The Student as press material.