A Sherlock Carol – Marylebone Theatre, London

A mash-up between two beloved characters from Victorian England, A Sherlock Carol is a light and funny Christmas treat.

A Sherlock Carol

As I was saying recently, it is foretold that I shall see two versions of A Christmas Carol every year. Here they all are: every year without fail. Regardless of whether I try to diversify my Christmas theatre-going or not (I even tried an opera last year), I just keep coming back to old Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and those ghosts. What can I say, it’s a festive compulsion, a desire to maximise the story’s cathartic, redeeming properties, to “honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year”. And so, without further ado, let’s take a look at my second version of A Christmas Carol for the year (the first is here).

A Christmas Carol has reached a special position in our society. The story is widely known, the characters’ names a shorthand. Even the Muppets have got in on the action. Very few authors have attained the cultural permeation of Charles Dickens. One contender, however, might be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. His stories about one Sherlock Holmes are equally recognisable, quoted, and widely read. There may not be a version by the Muppets, but Holmes is so iconic I doubt the deerstalker hat could ever be associated with anyone else. And that’s without it even appearing in the original stories.

So what better pairing than these two. Holmes and Scrooge. Writer and director Mark Shanahan brings his blending of ever-popular characters, A Sherlock Carol, back to the Marylebone Theatre stage this year. A bonus: this is just a stone’s throw from Baker Street: the majority of the audience will pass by no. 221B on their way back to the tube.

A Festive Christmas Pairing

Shanahan’s play relies on stitching together elements of Conan Doyle stories with enough of Dicken’s work to bring a recognisable structure to proceedings. It opens with the ultimate mash-up phrase: “Moriarty was dead, to begin with.” Holmes (typically Ben Caplan, I saw alternate Henry Proffit) is depressed without his worthy adversary. It takes Tiny Tim (now Dr. Cratchit – Devesh Kishore) showing up with a tempting mystery to break him out of his funk.

I wouldn’t say the story is one for the ages, but it does provide the necessary opportunities for familiar characters to make an appearance, for Holmes to have a haunting, and to keep the action moving (more or less). Holmes and Scrooge (Kammy Darweish) are played by dedicated actors: the other four members of the cast alternate smaller roles. Jessica Hern is rather good in roles ranging from a Victorian urchin to Inspector Lestrade. As is Richard James as Watson and a panto dame-like housekeeper. But Darweish really stood out for me: every scene his Scrooge appears in booms with hearty Christmas merriment. Watching him wordlessly play out A Christmas Carol in 30 seconds from a window built into the set’s proscenium arch was a joy to behold.

Otherwise A Sherlock Carol is a bit of Christmas fun. Nothing too serious, but it was never going to be. There are bits of Victorian Christmas carols. A set that looks wonderfully like an old engraving. Plenty to get you in the Christmas spirit, particularly if you stop by the Marylebone Theatre’s café first for a mulled wine and a mince pie.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

A Sherlock Carol on until 7 January 2024