As word spreads around FRINGE WORLD, the Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes will need to take place in a bigger venue.
The Gold Digger was brimming. Pre show, audience members were asked to write titles of possible Sherlock Holmes stories which were placed in a hat. Members of the UK Racing Minds Team then delivered an outstanding show sparked by some of these titles.
Dr Watson, played flawlessly by Alice Winn, and a mysterious stranger, played by Tom Skelton, warmed up with a quick improv story about ‘The Dastardly Wench’, the first title drawn from the hat. Daniel Nils joined in on the action and it quickly became clear that this trio were masters. The game was afoot.
The audience was clearly thrilled at impossibly ridiculous scenarios. The central story materialised after the second title was read out. However, rather than being set in underworld Victorian Britain as expected, it was set in 1902 Australia.
A great Statesman was in danger after being threatened by an upcoming Prime Minister. They could have put the title back and drawn out another, but the challenge was embraced. We somehow ended up in Broome. Luckily, Tom Skelton who plays Sherlock Holmes had some knowledge about Australian politics and Matsos Brewery. His co-stars relished in throwing more challenges his way, insisting he also play the endangered Statesman.
This proved hilarious with two characters being played simultaneously by one actor. Skelton was solid gold.
Swift deductions and clever vocabulary abounded. Sherlock Holmes was shocked to find that a corpse wasn’t the handsome man he expected to find, but somebody who looked more like a “wretched tarantula”.
The new Prime Minister played by a commanding Daniel Nils, dramatically announced he would “Staunch the wound that democracy is bleeding out.” He then granted Sherlock Holmes his wish, knighting him “Sir Sherlock Holmes of Broome.”
All three performers displayed a high level of showmanship transforming seamlessly into other characters.
Not many foreign actors can execute the perfect Australian accent. Buoyant group energy, precision timing and overall comic genius made for simply marvellous entertainment. Exhilarating! The best of its kind.