Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Napoleon of Crime (Oxford Playhouse)

Sherlock Holmes and the Napoleon of Crime is a MCS Drama (Magdalen College School) production and I was keen to review it at Oxford Playhouse. On entering the auditorium, my eye was instantly drawn to the stage. The set (Christianna Mason) had a Steampunk theme to it, fitting for the time period of this show.

As the play went on, this versatile set, alongside fabulous lighting (Will Hayman) and sound (Dan Parry) transported us to a newspaper office, the banks of the River Thames, peoples’ houses and a music hall among other locations. At times there was captioning to show when a journalist was typing, or to clarify location changes. Adding to all of this were beautiful costumes (Rosalind Philps) that were perfect for the time the show was set in and for the characters themselves.

Photo by Andrew Walmsley

This play was written and directed by Alex Thomas, Director of Drama at MCS, with original songs composed by Musical Director Will Edwards. The story was created using a combination of characters and plotlines from a number of Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories, set in 1890’s London.

Polly Langdale is an aspiring journalist who is looking for her first big story. Through her eyes we saw the details of how Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson met, and the story developed from there.  Full of twists and surprises as time went on, there was never a dull moment in the narrative.

The cast was made up of 50 students aged 11-18, yet the stage never once felt crowded. The performances were fantastic across the board, with everyone being cast into roles that suited their talents. With many of the cast effectively playing characters who were much older, we also had some of the younger cast members playing Baker Street Irregulars, a team of street urchins that helped Sherlock Holmes with his investigations at times.  This bunch brought memories of Oliver in their characterisation and costumes and they also had their own song.

In The Alhambra the Master of Ceremonies was played by Leo Dolan who commanded the attention of the people in the music hall as well the audience. After he introduced The Great Fellini (Nikhil Hauser) the performance by this illusionist continued however the focus was on other characters on stage and this was done so well. Credit for this must go to the director as well as the cast themselves. Every person on that stage as Alhambra attendees stayed in character watching the illusionist for quite an extended period of time.  Then when the focus went back to the Great Fellini his final illusion was delivered brilliantly too.  The pacing of all of this was superb.

Leo Dolan. Photo by Andrew Walmsley

Irene Adler was also introduced at The Alhambra. Freya Johnson played this character, and she had multiple solo songs which were delivered beautifully and with confidence.

Penny Miller played Polly Langdale well, often typing while simultaneously speaking the words aloud so the audience were aware of how her article was developing. This character was a reliable narrator to the story as it developed.  Her costume was also stunning.

Dr John Watson (Paul Arbibe) and Sherlock Holmes (Adrian Ononhayedo) were wonderful. Watson was accessible to the audience, giving more background information through his relatable character and narrative, whist as expected, Holmes was more aloof. While Paul Arbibe kept the audience on his side, Adrian Ononhayedo’s stage presence and performance was captivating, and I must mention his voice because it was such a delight to listen to.

Paul Arbibe and Adrian Onobhayedo - Photo by Andrew Walmsley

But as mentioned earlier, there was a large cast and everyone had their reason to be on stage. There was dancing (choreographed by Emily Scott), there were quite complicated fight scenes (directed by Mark Ruddick), there was delightfully villainous behaviour, light romance, boat races and even bicycles and hansom cabs. All in all this was an entertaining show to watch which kept the interest going throughout and contained some satisfying twists in the writing. This young cast did a wonderful job throughout.

Despite some very minor issues you would expect during the opening night of a production, what was in fact more noticeable was that on the few occasions there was a slight error it was corrected effectively and quickly. None of those issues had any impact on the enjoyment of the show as a result.

Once the cast had left the stage the musicians played on and a number of us moved forward to watch them performing.  This band played so well together and the music throughout the show was fitting for what was happening on the stage, and definitely the type of music that sticks in your head after the show! In fact, the music was so flawless it would be easy to imagine the musicians had been hired for the show.

All in all, this show exceeded my expectations in every possible way.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sherlock Holmes and the Napoleon of Crime is showing at  Oxford Playhouse until Saturday 27 June.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.