In 2003, I collaborated with my partners in Shanghai Low Theatricals (of which I was a founding and now former member) to create an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes mystery “The Sign of the Four.” It was picked up and produced by the Apple Tree Theater and ran to great critical acclaim, again resulting in an offer from Dramatic Publishing to add it to their catalog.
Cast: 7-10 m, 2-4w. Doyle’s classic tale is equal parts love story and baffling mystery: Why is governess Mary Morstan—in mourning for the disappearance of her father years before—suddenly receiving anonymous gifts of priceless pearls? Why was Bartholomew Sholto murdered with a poisoned dart behind a locked door in the highest tower of Pondicherry Lodge in Norwood? And how are both of these events tied to a secret society’s blood pact taken 31 years before at the Red Fort in Agra? Only two men are suited to untangle these conundrum literary history’s best-known and best-loved deductive genius, Sherlock Holmes, and his constant companion, John Watson. Based on the second of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories and combining elements and favorite characters from several more, this ode to Victorian stagecraft is wide open to all theatrical elements to spin its tale from the smoky environs of the second-floor rooms at Baker Street to the climactic steamboat chase down the Thames. Area staging. Two Acts. Approximate running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
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To purchase script and inquire about rights and availability please contact Dramatic Publishing