On the trail of a devilish beast in Dartmoor, Sherlock Holmes is said to “burst into one of his rare fits of laughter” in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Arthur Conan Doyle’s tale of fog and fangs has been hilariously spoofed on screen with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and in a blissfully silly stage version by Peepolykus. Now, a new comedy version will be performed in the outdoors – not in Devon but Newbury, where it will reopen the Watermill theatre this month.
A version of the mystery, devised by the Watermill company, will be performed by three actors on the back lawn of the rural Berkshire theatre. Socially distanced audiences will watch from an arrangement of 20 tables that each seat up to four people from one party only. Tickets cost £100 per table. The restaurant will serve pre-show dinner and cream teas will be available after matinee performances.
The roles in The Hound of the Baskervilles will be shared by Victoria Blunt, Rosalind Lailey and James Mack. Suitable for over-eights, the show will run from 29 July to 8 August. A concert version of Lerner and Loewe’s Arthurian musical Camelot, performed by actor-musicians, will run in the Watermill’s gardens from 17–29 August.
Paul Hart, the artistic director of the Watermill, said: “I’m immensely proud of the team who have worked day and night to make this happen. I’ve been moved by theatres up and down the country working their socks off to create inspired work and community projects in impossible circumstances and I’m so looking forward to us conjuring some joy this summer.”
The Watermill usually stages 12 new productions annually. Boris Johnson’s announcement in March that the public should avoid theatres came on the press night for its new musical, The Wicker Husband.
