Westport Country Playhouse will present a Script in Hand playreading of “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure,” a thriller by Steven Dietz, based on the original 1899 play by William Gillette and Arthur Conan Doyle, on Monday, December 11, at 7 p.m.
The play won the 2007 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery. The reading will be directed by Anne Keefe, Playhouse associate artist and curator of the playreading series. Tickets are $20 each. “Sherlock Holmes is having a bit of a comeback these days,” said Keefe. “When I read this script, I thought the Playhouse should jump on the bandwagon. It’s been a while since we saw our last thriller on the Playhouse stage. A cold December evening seemed like a good time to ‘solve’ that problem.” “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” finds the world’s greatest detective seemingly at the end of his remarkable career when a case presents itself that is too tempting to ignore. The case involves both blackmail and the famous opera singer Irene Adler. With his trusted companion Doctor Watson, Holmes pursues first the case and then the affections of Miss Adler – and in doing so, marches right into the lair of his longtime adversary, that malevolent genius of crime: Professor Moriarty. In this spirited, fast-moving and thoroughly theatrical adaptation, Holmes is at the height of his powers – surrounded by all the elements that fans of his exploits have come to expect: danger, intrigue, wit, humor, and surprise.
Cast members, many of whom have appeared in prior Playhouse productions, include Mark Shanahan as Sherlock Holmes (WCP’s “Around the World in 80 Days,” “Tryst,” “Sedition,” “David Copperfield,” “Journey’s End,” 19 Script in Hand playreadings; New York’s “Checkers,” “The 39 Steps”); Michael Mastro as Doctor Watson (WCP’s “Things We Do for Love”; Broadway’s “West Side Story,” “12 Angry Men,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Barrymore” with Christopher Plummer); Jennifer Mudge as Irene Adler (WCP’s “Scramble!,” Script in Hand playreadings of “Other People’s Money,” “A Strange and Separate People”; Broadway’s “Rocky,” “The Philanthropist,” “Reckless”; Drama Desk nomination for “Dutchman”); Julian Gamble as Professor Moriarty (WCP’s “What the Butler Saw”; Broadway and tours of “The Seagull,” “The Invention of Love,” “Democracy, “ “The Iceman Cometh,“ “Dinner at Eight,” “A Month in The Country”; TV’s “House of Cards”). Also, Chris Henry Coffey as The King of Bohemia (WCP’s “The Dining Room,” “Lips Together, Teeth Apart,” Script in Hand playreading of “Other People’s Money”; New York’s “Bronx Bombers,” “Water by the Spoonful”; David Schwinner’s “Trust”; Matthew Greer as James Larrabee (WCP’s “Bedroom Farce,” “And a Nightingale Sang,” “Things We Do for Love”; Broadway’s “The Real Thing,” “Seminar,” “Cabaret,” “The Judas Kiss”; national tour of “Spamalot”); Constance Shulman as Madge Larrabee (New York’s “Steel Magnolias” original cast; films “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “Sweet and Lowdown”; television’s “The Blacklist,” “Orange Is the New Black”); John Keating as Sid Prince (WCP’s “David Copperfield,” “The Streets of New York”; six shows with New York’s Theatre for a New Audience and 18 productions with NY’s Irish Repertory Theatre; television’s “Boardwalk Empire”); and Ephraim Birney as Postboy, Clergyman, Policeman, Young Swiss Man.