I have always been a mystery buff. I love the idea that I can sit in the audience and pick out the ‘who dunit’ from my seat in the theatre or home. But Kate Hamill’s current production of “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson-Apt 2B” is in a league of its own; there is no second guessing because, well it’s elementary. There’s nothing to second guess, ‘cause most of it is smoke and mirrors.
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| Natalie Woolams-Torres and Ruibo Qian |
Hamill’s new piece, now playing on the stage of the Cheryl and Harvey White stage through Sept. 1st with James Vásquezs Globe's resident artist directing, has a bit of everything out of a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s playbook with one big exception…both characters are women. Yes. How does that work? Strange as it might seem, they are as different as day is from night but through it all, it works (at times) and other times it’s a crap shoot. The time is 2021.
Ms. Sherlock Holmes (Ruibo Qian) and Ms. (Joan, I’m not a Dr.) Watson (Natalie Woolams-Torres) are the main sleuths. Some of the characters will be familiar if you are a fan. If not, no mind.
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| Ruibo Qian, Nehal Joshi, Jenn Harris, Natalie Woolams-Torres |
Jenn Harris takes on the roles of landlady Ms. Hudson and others, along with “Hello Gorgeous”, the stunning Irene Adler. Nehal Joshi is all the male characters including the corrupt Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. Nehal is perfect as the many characters (Eliot Monk) he plays all with different accents and costumes (Shirley Pierson).
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| Nehal Joshi and Natalie Woolams-Torres |
Zany stuff going on and that might just be the fun of it as when they are looking for clues on a dead man in a bathtub and both crawl in with him to inspect the clues, like a ring that has a thumb print on it. Or when they dress up as Irish Nuns in disguise. But the most fun is watching the two banter with each other and finally come to the conclusion that they might be able to live with each other as roommates. Don’t believe it.
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| Natalie Woolams-Torres, Jenn Harris, Ruibo Qian (standing in background) |
Both women are funny to watch but of the two Natalie Woolams-Torres is the most believable and well suited for this role. She is much more grounded than Ms. Qian who was over the top hysterical, and at times very difficult to understand. Her reasoning, or as some might call her thinking is on an intellectual level without feelings. As Dr. Watson, Woolams-Torres character is more appealing to watch. She is going through an identity crisis of her own that makes her more human. In turn, she watches Holmes go almost mad when she cannot find a clue. And so, it goes.
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| Jenn Harris, Natalie Woolams-Torres, Ruibo Qian, Nehal Joshi |
Hamill has most fun when she is reimaging some of the classics: “Emma”, “Sense and “Sensibility”, “Pride and Prejudice”, "The Little Fellow or The Queen of Tarts Tells All at Cygnet and of course this San Diego premiere. You get the picture.
Sean Fanning, Scenic Design, Amanda Ziev, , Lighting Design, Melanie Chen Cole, Sound Design, Ka’imi Kuoha, Fight Choreography and Marie Jahelka, Production Stage Manager all specialize in making this a wonderful production for any summer night.
Alas, as much fun as was watching the dynamic duo of “Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson-Apt. 2B” solving its myriad of crimes, a good 30 + minutes could have been shaved off the production and it would still appeal.
Elementary Mr. Watson.
Enjoey.
See you at the theatre.
Opens Aug. 1 and runs through Sept. 1. 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays
Where: Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, the Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park, San Diego.
Tickets: $49 and up
Photo: Jim Cox
Phone: (619) 234-5623
Online: theoldglobe.org
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