A 21st-century Sherlock Holmes

I love a good mystery - they were my favorite books as a kid. I was a big Sherlock Holmes fan and yes, I bought a deerstalker on my first trip to London. (I think I even wore it in public once or twice.)

So I'm looking forward to Sherlock, the three-part British series that begins tonight on PBS. The video makes it look a little more CSI than I'd like but that's okay. It's a modern-day Holmes and I'm not a purist for a Victorian setting.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock Holmes. I don't know much about him although he was in Atonement, which I did see. And Martin Freeman, who was very funny as Tim in the original (and superior IMHO) British version of The Office, is Dr. John Watson.

While the setting is contemporary there's at least one connection to the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories that, sadly, is as plausible today as it was in the 1880s. Watson has recently returned from Army service in Afghanistan.

And he's still chronicling his adventures with the world's most famous consulting detective - on his blog.

For devoted Sherlockians, there'll be a Twitter event from 9 to 10:30 p.m., with mystery experts Scott Monty from The Baker Street Blog, Leslie Klinger, author of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, and Andrew Gulli, editor of The Strand magazine. Just follow the hashtag #sherlock_pbs.

Will War Horse hoof it to New York?

Okay, I know it's not going to happen for a couple of years but this is so exciting: the producers of War Horse are planning to bring the play, currently a hit in London's West End, to New York in 2011, according to this story in The New York Times.

"British and American producers plan to mount War Horse in New York in 2011 and are now looking at Broadway theaters and other locations, like the Park Avenue Armory, that would be large enough to house the show, said one of the producers, Bob Boyett. The ideal, by many accounts, would be the Vivian Beaumont Theater, with its wide thrust stage."

(Update February 2010: It's been announced that War Horse will be part of the 2010-2011 season for the Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. Performances begin March 17, 2011.)

The play, based on a book by British children's novelist Michael Morpurgo, is about a boy who goes searching for his beloved horse after the animal is sold to the cavalry during World War I.

In his review, the Telegraph's Charles Spencer said the story, adapted by Nick Stafford, "brilliantly captures not only the mysterious and intense relationship that can exist between humans and animals, but also the dreadful waste and terror of the Great War."

From everything I've read, all the photos and videos I've seen, this production, which began at Britain's National Theatre, looks terrific. And it has some amazingly lifelike and life-size horse puppets from South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company.

Here's the trailer:

Mary Stuart

Gratuitous Violins rating *** out of ****

I've always been an Anglophile and I loved The Six Wives of Henry VIII when the BBC series aired in the United States in the early 1970s. But I'm kind of rusty on my Tudor history, so I did some quick research on Wikipedia before seeing Mary Stuart on Broadway.

And honestly, I think I would have been a little lost without that homework. There are terrific performances but the first act of this three-hour play was a bit of a slog for me. I couldn't quite figure out what roles everyone in the supporting cast was playing, who was loyal to whom.

Still, if I was feeling dazed and confused for the first 90 minutes or so, the brilliance and clarity of the second act more than makes up for it.

Mary Stuart tells the story of the clash between the Protestant Elizabeth I of England, played with steely resolve by Harriet Walter, and the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, portrayed by a fiery and passionate Janet McTeer, whom Elizabeth has imprisoned and accused of trying to overthrow her.

This is a new adaptation, by British playwright Peter Oswald, of a work by 18th-century German writer Friedrich Schiller. It won great reviews it was staged at at London's Donmar Warehouse several years ago with Walter and McTeer.

The women, and McTeer's nurse, played by Maria Tucci, are dressed in Elizbethan (I think) garb, while all the male courtiers and advisers wear modern suits.

I've read that this was a financial decision but it also highlights the different worlds that the men and women in this play inhabit. At a time when power normally was wielded by men, it makes Elizabeth and Mary stand out even more.

While I found the first act slow going, the second act, which opens with a fictitious meeting between the two queens, carries such tremendous force and intensity that Mary Stuart redeemed itself.

Anthony Ward's costumes and scenic design, Hugh Vanstone's lighting and Paul Arditti's sound combine for a stunning effect. This is where the struggle between these cousins and bitter rivals crystallizes and it's riveting to watch.

The performances by McTeer and Walter are wonderful. What I love is how distinct they make their characters.

McTeer's Mary is impetuous and headstrong and sometimes acts without thinking. She's warm and inspires devotion. Walter's Queen Elizabeth is Mary's opposite. She thinks to the point of almost being unable to act, or maybe that's part of her act. She's calculating and cold. (When I met Walter afterward, I was surprised at how small she is - she seems so imposing on stage.)

It was pretty fascinating to watch both women interact with their male advisers, wondering whom they can trust. Elizabeth especially is very canny in the way she uses them. I liked John Benjamin Hickey as the conniving Earl of Leicester and Chandler Williams as Mortimer, who remains loyal to Mary.

Even in Act II, though, there were a few things that didn't quite work for me - a scene of comic relief that seemed out of place, for one. And I thought the play was going to end several times before it finally did.

I think it's a tribute to both actresses that I wasn't sure how I felt about Elizabeth and Mary. Was Mary unjustly imprisoned or getting what she deserved? Did Elizabeth act out of a fit of pique or did she really have no other choice if Mary and her followers posed a threat?

So I'm glad I saw Mary Stuart, just for the thrill of watching Walter and McTeer play two fierce queens.

Live theatre, at the movies

What a great idea: Britain's National Theatre is going to broadcast plays live, in 50 movie theatres across the United Kingdom, beginning in June with Helen Mirren in the classic tragedy Phedre.

Four plays in all will be presented, for one performance only. Tickets will cost 10 pounds apiece, which I think is about $15. And to recoup some of the expense, the National Theatre's director, Nicholas Hytner, says that broadcast rights will be sold to to other countries.

One of the productions he mentioned as a possibility for a future showing is War Horse, which I would love to see. It's about a boy and his beloved horse and takes place against the backdrop of World War I. The horses are puppets operated by three actors, and they look amazingly lifelike. Here's a video that'll give you an idea:



And I like this quote from Hytner: "I keep thinking that if Olivier's National Theatre had been available in a cinema in Manchester when I was a teenager I'd have gone every time and it would have been fantastic."

1 million free theatre tickets

The more I read about the theatre and the more I go to the theatre, the more I realize that the topic of demographics, i.e., how to get more young people in seats, is a neverending topic of discussion. So I thought this was an interesting story:

Starting in February, the British government is planning to distribute 1 million free theatre tickets over the next two years to people age 26 and under. About 100 publicly financed venues across the country will set aside a certain number of tickets on the same night, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

“A young person attending the theatre can find it an exhilarating experience, and be inspired to explore new horizons. But sometimes people miss out on it because they fear it’s ‘not for them’. It’s time to change this perception,'' says Andy Burnham, Britain's secretary for culture, media and sport. Burnham added, "It will be good for theaters who will see their audience broaden, and it will be good for actors who play at their best when performing to a full house.''

The program's $4.6-million cost is being borne by England's Arts Council, the national development agency for the arts, which gets its money from the government and the United Kingdom's National Lottery.

According to the Council's Web site: "Our aim is for everyone in the country to have the opportunity to develop a rich and varied artistic and creative life. We will ensure that more high quality work reaches a wider range of people – engaging them as both audience and participants. We will support artists and arts organisations to take creative risks and follow new opportunities."

Of course, the plan isn't without its critics. Some say the money would be better spent on more pressing financial needs, or on arts education. They note that many theatres already offer heavily discounted tickets. And some critics fear that it won't necessarily expand the audience, since many of those who will take advantage of the free tickets may already be theatre fans.

Okay, those are all perfectly valid points. But even though I'm way over 26 and I'm not in England, I still think it's a pretty cool idea.

It's not only rock 'n' roll

Tom Stoppard's play "Rock 'n' Roll is set in Czechoslovakia in 1968, a time of political liberalization that ended up being crushed by Soviet tanks. At the same time, the play also takes place in the rarified air of academic life in Cambridge, England.

This month's issue of Vanity Fair has an essay by Stoppard, in which he describes his play as being "partly about Communism, partly about consciousness, slightly about Sappho, and mainly about Czechoslovakia between 1968 and 1990," and a q&a where the playwright discusses, among other things, his fascination with Syd Barrett, the late Pink Floyd frontman.

It's one of the plays I'm most looking forward to seeing on Broadway next month. (If there's no lockout, fingers and toes crossed). I'm interested in how Stoppard deals with a tumultuous time, how he switches between the worlds of Prague and Cambridge, and what he may, or may not, have to say about rock 'n' roll as a force for political and social change.