An Evening with Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson
Arroy (AJ) Jacob, Web Editor |
NOTE: Originally uploaded May 12th, reuploaded for edits.
Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are the world’s most iconic duo in the whodunnit world. And Kate Hamill decided to take the two, flip them inwards of themselves.
Hamil, the director of “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson” at the Vertigo Theatre gives the audience the sweet taste of the classic Holmes & Watson archetypes, while still being relatable to today’s audience by cleverly tying together the COVID pandemic, queer identities, and modern-day burnout.
This will be a spoiler-free review of Kate Hamill’s “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson #2B”
Engagement and acting
Enter Shirley (who strongly prefers to be called Sherlock) Holmes, a private investigator who believes she’s lost her thrill for the search, until an initial murder case calls her back to escape her messy flat and rediscover the joy of puzzle-solving (and boosting her ego).
Joan Watson, played by Tahirih Vejdani, is a former medical doctor with loses consciousness and the sight of blood. But despite her condition, assisting Sherlock in her quest to solve the case recharacterizes her as more than just a useful assistant to not only the case, but Holmes herself.
Characters including the infamous Dr. Moriarty and other hilarious roles are played by Graham Percy and Camille Pavlenko, all of which had enveloped the audience into a humorous, engaging, and altogether, an impressive feat of engagement throughout the entire show.
All four of our actors had taken each role, whether true to the tale of Holmes & Watson itself, or completely brand new, and expanded them to its full potential, like an overfilled helium balloon. It was incredibly evident that each actor wanted to ensure that each role was molded into its best entertaining self, that you had to agree with Hamill’s decision in casting these four actors.
Audience relatability
As mentioned before, “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson” is a modern re-telling of the classical Holmes & Watson duo. And with its do-over, Hamill cleverly introduced subtle and relatable topics that impact Calgarians on a daily basis.
The COVID pandemic had struck the healthcare industries in ways the Western world has not seen in a very long time. Worse being the long-term repercussions that reverberated since the past four years has influenced people’s perspective on healthcare professions, mental health, and adult burnout.
Watson’s character, surprisingly takes each of these aspects from pandemic and interweave each experience into are character arch in circumventing way that not only teaches Sherlock, and the audience a lesson about how we treat our bodies in post-pandemic world, but is also directly related to heart of the story’s plot, a modernized twist of the classical Holmes & Watson schtick. Tahirih Vejdani (Joan Watson) proves to the audience that re-telling of classical tales is just as perfect as an art as the original.
We can’t explicitly discuss aspects of queer representation in the play without majorly spoiling the plot, but we can safely say that Hamill definitely ensured that queer representation was not going to stay as a plot device, but rather a perfect demonstration of what modern theatres and media fail to do when representing queer folks, treating queer relationships no different than a heterosexual relationship, and I cannot thank Hamill enough for recognizing that in her play.
“Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson” is a fantastical adaptation of the beloved whodunnit classic, and accurately brings out the best of the original story while casually demonstrating how simple inclusivity and modernization is through excellent dialogue, character-driven writing, and engaging acting.
“Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson” is playing exclusively in Calgary’s Vertigo Theatre from May 11th to June 9th. Get your tickets at the official website here.
