Red Rope Theatre Company has chosen to stage its version of Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles at the Anglican Chapel at Arnos Vale Cemetery Chapel in Bristol. It is a perfect setting to this thoroughly gripping, classic gothic horror tale.
Just getting out of the car on a dark damp November night and finding your way through the half mist to the Chapel is enough to electrify the senses. The cloud-covered moon and the dangling branches cast shadows across the tombs blanketed with ivy urging you to get to the safety of your seat. It is a perfect start.
Writer Matt Grinter’s adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle’s original gets off to a chilling start with reminders of how fear can take hold of people and feed the fertile imagination. The legend of the demonic hound that haunts the area and the story of the curse that runs through the Baskerville family is quickly re-enacted before local Dartmoor doctor Dr Mortimer travels to London to seek the help of the famous Sherlock Holmes.
Designer Rhiannon Binnington revels in the opportunities the high ceiling and oppressive cold stone walls of the Chapel award her. Together with the huge glass windows either side of the pews holding the audience and the technical team’s (Mark Riden and Lydia Morgan) use of lighting, the shadows in the otherwise dimly lit chapel create a splendid gothic setting.
Elliot Chapman (Holmes) and Patrick McAndrew (Watson) are compelling in the major roles, avoiding the clichés of the well-known screen versions to give this version its very own personality. The tiny cast is complemented by Dannan McAleer (having great fun playing all the various Baskerville family members and the steward Barrymore) and Rebecca Robson, who has a firm grip on just about all the other roles. Grinter’s adaptation and the smooth, simple costume changes avoid any complications of multi-role-playing. Director Roisin McCay-Hines's sharp direction keeps the pace and delivers a punchy production.
Despite the small cast and the limitations of performing in an adopted space, the team recreate, seemingly effortlessly, both the world of Victorian London and the mires of Dartmoor. The lack of tiered seating or an elevated performing platform does cause some frustrations from the back row, but should not take away from the fact that it is the small and marvellously appropriate setting that creates an intimacy which makes this production so unique and rewarding.
And of course there is the Hound… but you will just have to go to see how they do this for yourself.