The award-winning Original Theatre Company and Octagon Theatre Bolton’s acclaimed 2021/22 tour of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated adventure, The Hound of the Baskervilles, will be available on demand online from 14 April at 7.30pm until 31 July 2022
The whodunnit for all ages stars Jake Ferretti (The Kitchen, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, The Understudy) as Sherlock Holmes, Serena Manteghi (Welcome To Iran, To Build a Rocket, Mrs Wilson) as Sir Henry and Niall Ransome as Dr. Watson (Mischief Movie Night, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, Fcuk’d).
Adapted for the stage by Steven Canny and John Nicholson for Peepolykus, in a production which was first performed at the Octagon Theatre in summer 2021, the classic detective tale gets a brilliantly farcical overhaul in Lotte Wakeham’s acclaimed production which is directed on tour by Tim Jackson. A hit in the West End, this ingenious adaptation combines an exhilarating collision of farce, theatrical invention and wonderfully comic performances to offer a brand-new twist on the greatest detective story of all time.
One of the first companies to launch online versions of their plays, Original Theatre have produced 13 digital productions since March 2020 and streamed their work globally to 57 countries. Their work has ranged from filming Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong to Apollo 13 to an award-winning zombie short Viral shot on iPhones in locked-down Peckham. Over lockdown they employed over 200 freelancers. Their work has been widely praised and they have recently been credited with creating “an entirely new dramatic genre” (The Guardian). In February 2022, the company won a One Off Award at this year’s OFFIES in recognition of its work over the past 18 months.
Alastair Whatley, Artistic Director of Original Theatre, said, “Necessity forced our hand in 2020 as we took our first steps into making work online. As much as the past two years have been profoundly challenging for all of us in the industry, they have also opened doors to explore a new way of working which in turn has led us to develop a new and exciting hybrid form of theatre. It’s been a period of huge change but also great innovation which is opening up access to theatre like we’ve never been able to do previously.”
The Hound of the Baskervilles joins Original Theatre’s exciting on demand Spring line-up including:
The Red (16 March – 16 June): Marcus Brigstocke’s compelling drama of family and addiction, starring real-life father and son Bruce Alexander and Sam Alexander, is based on his own recovery. Originally commissioned for BBC Radio 4 and winner of the BBC Audio Drama Award 2018 for Best Single Drama, the 2019 stage production had acclaimed runs at Omnibus Theatre and Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Into The Night (until 31 August): On Saturday 19 December 1981, the Penlee lifeboat ‘Solomon Browne’, was launched in hurricane conditions to go to the aid of the coaster ‘Union Star’ that had engine failure and was being swept towards the southern coast of Cornwall. It was an attempted rescue which ranks not only with the greatest in the history of the RNLI, but with any human achievement. Marking 40 years since the event, Into The Night is a unique theatrical performance being streamed online. The cast includes Tom Chambers, Robert Duncan and Susan Penhaligon.
THE SYSTEM (until 31 August): Emily Head’s sharp psychological thriller invites the audience into the interrogation room with the murder suspects. As, one by one, the murder suspects give their accounts of that night a dark truth begins to reveal itself. An on-demand recording of Original’s live stream, filmed on stage at the New Wolsey in a single steadicam take, THE SYSTEM is one of Original’s most ambitious undertakings and the longest single take LIVE steadicam shot ever undertaken!
Being Mr Wickham (until 30 April): Adrian Lukis, who starred in the renowned BBC TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, returns to the role of Mr Wickham. Join Pride and Prejudice’s most roguish gentleman, George Wickham, on the eve of his sixtieth birthday, to lift the sheets on what exactly happened thirty years on from where we left him. This on-demand version was originally streamed live from the stage of the magnificent Regency Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds.
There is also the final chance to catch the compelling political drama A Splinter Of Ice, starring Oliver Ford Davies, Stephen Boxer and Sara Crowe, before it ends on 31 March 2022.
For more information about Original Theatre productions, and to book your tickets, visit: https://originaltheatreonline.com
