Hound of the Baskervilles delights Neepawa audience

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Published on Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Photo courtesy Manitoba Theatre Centre.

By Kira Paterson

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC) made a stop in Neepawa on Feb. 4 as part of their regional tour. The performance was included in the Kaleidoscope concert series this season. The traveling acting troupe put on a production of Hound of the Baskervilles, a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that was adapted to a comedy play. 

All of the 17 characters in the story were played by three actors, Arne MacPherson, Aaron Pridham and Toby Hughes, who donned many costumes and used exaggerated accents throughout the production. They never hesitated to remind the audience of the ridiculousness of a man playing a woman or how fake the props were, but that was part of the entertainment. 

The story itself was about a young man, Sir Henry Baskerville, who wanted to claim his inheritance of the Baskerville estate. However, all of Sir Henry’s predecessors mysteriously perished at night while crossing the moor on which their home was established, with only the body and large paw prints left behind. The eerie circumstance began to be called “the curse of the hound of the Baskervilles”. 

Sir Henry, hoping to claim his inheritance without finding the same fate as his ancestors, enlists Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick, Dr. John Watson to get to the bottom of this curse. Watson is sent to keep Sir Henry safe, while Holmes conducts his investigation incognito, surveilling the residents of the moor. 

After noticing peculiar and suspicious behaviour from many of the characters, Holmes finds that his suspect is a long lost member of the Baskerville line, killing off his family members so that he could claim the inheritance. 

Although the story itself is haunting and dramatic, it was presented in an over-dramaticized way that kept the audience laughing throughout the production. There was also a plot about the actors themselves, with Aaron Pridham, who plays Sir Henry, suffering from panic attacks because the story was so terrifying that he forgot it wasn’t real and that he wasn’t actually Sir Henry being hunted down by a demon-hound. 

The actors were so into their roles that it left one wondering how much of the comedy was improv and how much was scripted. The audience ranged from high school students to senior citizens, and the play had amusing content for every demographic represented there. 

One of the best parts of live theatre is when the story and the actors interact with the audience. This production definitely accomplished that and the actors got laughs out of everyone.