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Sacramento Theatre Company

Study Guide

The Hound of the Baskervillesadapted from the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

by R. Hamilton Wright & David Pichette

Study Guide Prepared: April 24, 2016 by William Myers

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Sacramento Theatre Company

Mission Statement

The Sacramento Theatre Company (STC) strives to be the leader in integrating professional theatre with theatre arts education. STC produces engaging professional theatre, provides exceptional theatre training, and uses theatre as a tool for educational engagement.

Our History

The theatre was originally formed as the Sacramento Civic Repertory Theatre in 1942, an ad hoc troupe formed to entertain locally-stationed troops during World War II. On October 18, 1949, the Sacramento Civic Repertory Theatre acquired a space of its own with the opening of the Eaglet Theatre, named in honor of the Eagle, a Gold Rush-era theatre built largely of canvas that had stood on the city’s riverfront in the 1850s. The Eaglet Theatre eventually became the Main Stage of the not-for-profit Sacramento Theatre Company, which evolved from a community theatre to professional theatre company in the 1980s. Now producing shows in three performance spaces, it is the oldest theatre company in Sacramento.

After five decades of use, the Main Stage was renovated as part of the H Street Theatre Complex Project. Features now include an expanded and modernized lobby and a Cabaret Stage for special performances. The facility also added expanded dressing rooms, laundry capabilities, and other equipment allowing the transformation of these performance spaces, used nine months of the year by STC, into backstage and administration places for three months each summer to be used by California Musical Theatre for Music Circus.

Sacramento Theatre Company can accommodate 292 patrons in the proscenium-style auditorium of its Main Stage, while the Pollock Stage offers a more intimate experience with only 87 seats in a black box-style theatre. Both provide good acoustics and sight-lines. This professional, Equity theatre presents seven professional productions per season with a reputation for excellent stage adaptations of classic literature. Three annual productions in the Cabaret Stage, which seats 100, round out the experience with high-quality Broadway musical revues.

The Young Professionals Conservatory, a training program for young theatre artists, was founded in 2003. The program, as well as the entire STC School of the Arts, is directed by Michele Hillen-Noufer.

For further information about the Sacramento Theatre Company please visit us online:

http://www.sactheatre.org

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Contents

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Characters / Summary

Characters & Summary: Spoiler version

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes

Observation

Theatre Etiquette

Learning More (Sources/further research)

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The Characters

Sir Charles Baskerville: Elderly Lord of the Baskerville estate. Sir Charles has been the Lord at Baskerville for six years. He had two younger brothers, one who moved to Canada, the second to Argentina.

Barrymore: Butler of the Baskerville Hall. He has served the family all his life, as did his father before him. Barrymore is a hard, unforgiving man whose loyalties.

Mr Sherlock Holmes: Holmes is a civilian detective, a specialist in the study of crime and murder. In contemporary terms, he would be a forensic scientist and might work as part of a CSI unit or as a private consultant. The Baskerville case happens a few years prior to Holme's confrontation with Moriarty... but well into his career as a detective, such that he considers the more common cases available to lack any real challenge. The great detective is famous throughout London and even much of England and Europe, receiving requests for assistance from the aristocracy and from Scotland Yard.

Dr John Watson: While popularly known as Holme's assistant (or in more modern terms, his 'sidekick'), Watson is a practicing medical doctor and a hobbyist writer. He has participated in many of the detective's adventures and provides both a sounding board for ideas and a humanizing connection to ground Holmes.

John Mortimer: A country doctor who comes to London to ask Holmes for aid in uncovering the truth about the situation at Baskerville Hall.

Sir Henry Baskerville: The heir to the Baskerville Estate, son of Phillip (Charle's younger brother). Preferring the name Hank, the young heir grew up in Canada and has spent much of his years horseback, herding cattle. He is rough around the edges, speaks his mind, and doesn't know much about being an English Lord.

Mrs Barrymore: Cook and housekeeper for Baskerville Hall. Married to Barrymore.

Mr Franklin: a neighbor, owner of Lafter Hall. Has a standing feud with the Baskervilles.

Jack Stapleton: a neighbor, and naturalist, owner of Merripit House.

Beryl Stapleton: a neighbor, sister of Jack. Beryl appears to have visions.

Perkins: local drayman (drives a cart)

Mrs Hudson: Holmes' landlady at Baker Street in London

Seldon: escaped murderer

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Summary

brother instead who quickly wounds the knight. Olivia interferes and leads Sebastian to a priest and (thinking he is Cesario) marries the surprised young man.Antonio is brought before the duke and creates some confusion by relating his adventures with Cesario/Viola, who he still thinks is Sebastian. Olivia adds to the confusion by entering and claiming Cesario/Viola as her husband.Sir Andrew and Sir Toby in the meantime have had another encounter with Sebastian; they enter wounded and blame their hurts upon Cesario/Viola. Everything is finally made clear when Sebastian himself appears and the company sees Viola and Sebastian, twins, side by side. Viola promises to assume her maiden attire to prove her identity as Sebastian’s sister. Orsino, remem-bering Viola’s many expressions of affection, is content to abandon his hopeless love for Olivia and marry Viola. Sir Toby marries Maria for her wit, and only Malvolio remains single and seems dissatisfied with the happiness of the others.

Hound of the Baskervilles is a mystery. Like many mysteries, thrillers, and stories with suspense in them, it is difficult to sum up the plot and the actions of the characters without revealing some of what makes the play exciting. As such, we provide two sets of characters and summary pages. The first set, which you are reading, give the fundamental details without revealing more than you might discover in the first moments of the play or a given character's time on stage. The second set will go into greater detail, breaking down the whole play... and in the process, revealing who is manipulating events and breaking the law. If you don't wish to know and want to discover these things for yourself, be certain not to read the pages marked as Spoilers.

Dr. Mortimer and the new heir to the Baskerville title come to London to hire Sherlock Holmes to look into a suspicious murder. Their concerns are based on a generations old legend about the family and Hall that include a curse of a supernatural hound. The doctor has suspicions that the hound is real, but needs the efforts of a detective to look into the possibility.

Holmes demurs and insists that there will be a natural answer that will require no faerie tales. He has another case but agrees to send Watson along with the doctor and young Lord to ensure their safety. They agree to leave for the west in the morning and then return to their hotel.

No sooner are they gone than Holmes and Watson are out the door following them, in the hopes of catching sight of the killer or anyone else who is hunting/tracking the young lord. This results in a chase through London before they lose their suspect who has hopped aboard a train.

Watson joins Henry Baskerville at his Hall near Grimpen, near the great Grimpen Mire... dangerous unstable moorland near the estate. No sooner have they arrived than they discover that a terrible murderer has escaped from a nearby asylum. Between the murderer, the Mire, a hellhound, and possible plots; Watson has his hands full keeping Henry alive and taking sufficient notes about the activities of all the neighbors to pass along to Holmes in the hope of breaking the case.

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The Characters (Spoiler Version)

Sir Charles Baskerville: Charles has been the Lord of the Baskerville estate for the past six years. Within the last two years, sightings and the sound of the Hound on the moor has made him superstitious and made him believe that the curse is real. He is killed in the first scene of the play, tricked into coming out onto the moor and then scared to death by a mundane hound. His death passes the title and estate to Sir Henry Baskerville, son of Charles' younger brother.

Barrymore: is the Butler at Baskerville Hall and has served the family for all his life (as did his father before him). Barrymore is a stern, hard man, dedicated to the Baskerville line and not especially flexible in adapting to Sir Henry's ways. Barrymore was awarded 500 pounds per year in the transfer of the estate, enough that he and his wife intend to leave service to the Baskervilles and open an inn somewhere.

Mr Sherlock Holmes: the great Detective, specialist in crime. While Holmes is consulted in the beginning of the play by Dr. Mortimer and Sir Henry, it appears through much of the play as though Watson has been sent to deal with the case on his own. However, Sherlock has actually been present all along, taking on a number of personalities to observe the neighbors and guests of the Baskervilles... including a roaming tinker and an elderly Reverend who is supposed to be the next heir should Sir Henry die. By the time we return from intermission and Holmes is once again playing himself, he already knows who is responsible and it is simply a matter of getting everyone to act in a way that their crimes are evident to witnesses.

Dr John Watson: Holmes' constant companion and assistant. In this case, Watson takes the front line role through much of the action. He is specifically placed on assignment to protect Sir Henry while observing and recording as many of the activities of the household and neighbors as he can. Watson himself is tricked by Holmes' disguises and is somewhat insulted by the detective's lack of trust in him.

John Mortimer: A country doctor. Also the executor of the Baskerville estate after Charles' death. Mortimer is the only one who has seen the hound through much of the case and has a difficult time reconciling his scientific reasoning with the supernatural seeming of the hound.

Sir Henry Baskerville: raised in Canada as a rancher, Sir Henry (or as he prefers - Hank), is hardly what most people expect of an English Lord. He speaks his mind, don't care much for the little etiquette and mannerisms that he does know, and he's not the least bit familiar with all the little eccentricities of his neighbors... or even his own household. He falls in love with Beryl.

Mrs Barrymore: Barrymore's wife. Also happens to be the escaped murderer's older sister. While everyone is out in the country looking for him, she's been feeding and sheltering him in or near the Baskerville estate. Barrymore is in on this secret and a lot of their creepiness is revealed as the plot to keep Seldon hidden unravels.

Mr Franklin: a neighbor, owner of Lafter Hall. Has a long seated feud running with the Baskervilles, some of which is personal (Charles had made passes on Franklin's wife) and some of which goes back generations and relates to land and water rights.

Jack Stapleton: a neighbor, owner of Merripit House. Jack is the son of Roger Baskerville, the youngest brother of Charles, born in South America. Jack is the one involved in the attempt's on Henry's life in London and the chase with Holmes and Watson.

Beryl Stapleton: while Jack and Beryl lead people to believe they are brother and sister, she is actually his wife... and responsible for much of what has gone on.

Seldon: murderer is in hiding at the Baskerville estate until Henry's arrival, at which point the Barrymore's try to get him to move along. He's unwilling to go and after a confrontation in the cellar, ends up getting chased by the hound, shot by Franklin and falls off the tor (rock piles).

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Summary (Spoiler Version)

The play opens with Sir Charles Baskerville out on the moors, despite a growing superstition that he and his family are cursed by a spectral Hound. He has been lured out here to meet a woman. His Butler, Barrymore, brings him a lantern and checks in with him to remind him (and us) of the dangers of the moor at night. He sends Barrymore home to pack for an upcoming trip (or move) to London. Moments later, sounds of something creeping up on him and attacking send him fleeing.

A quick transition takes us to London where Holmes is engrossed in his paper while the landlady, Mrs Hudson, serves Watson some fresh coffee and lets them know what is in store for tea: rarebit (a savory melted cheese sauce often with mustard, Worcestershire sauce, spices poured over toasted bread). Holmes doesn't respond, even as Mrs Hudson makes more and more exaggerated remarks to get his attention. After she has left and Holmes does speak, it is only to complain about the sad state of crime and, more importantly to Holmes, the lack of challenge for his mind. He goes looking for his cocaine (a 7% solution) as an escape from the tedium. Watson heads this off by point out that an unusual man can be seen outside their home, and draws Holmes into profiling the man (Dr James Mortimer) before he enters.

Dr Mortimer and Sir Henry have come to London to have Sherlock Holmes investigate some unusual aspects of Sir Charles' passing, some hound prints that Mortimer saw near the body which others did not see as well as footprints that indicated that Charles had been sneaking up on someone on tiptoe. This assumption by the police is corrected by Holmes, who reveals that those prints were made by someone running for his life.

Mortimer presents his concerns of the curse by reading an old document from one of the former Lords which tells of the curse's origin generations in the past by Lord Hugo Baskerville. Hugo had abducted the daughter of a yeoman and locked her in the Hall while he and his men caroused. When she escaped, he set his dogs loose and rode out into the moors to chase her down. When he caught up with her, she was dead from fatigue and fear and he was attacked by a monstrous supernatural Hound. Holmes writes off the curse as a faerie tale and dismisses the men claiming to be too busy to take the case personally. He does offer to send Watson along to keep Sir Henry safe and to look into things. They agree to leave the following morning.

The moment the men have left, Sherlock springs into action to follow them. They discover someone else watching Sir Henry (Jack Stapleton) and pursue the man until they lose him on a train at Victoria station. But not before Jack has done a few things that reveal that he can get the jump on Holmes and that he knows who they are.

The next scene picks up in the west country where Henry, Mortimer and Watson are met by a cart driver who will take them out to the estate, but along the way they see many prison guards out in the fields on horseback, looking for an escaped criminal. They learn that it is Seldon, a particularly vicious murderer who killed killed his whole family. We learn later that Seldon is the younger brother of the butler Barrymore's wife. As the men arrive at the estate, however, a full rain storm is happening. The place and the people act far from welcoming to the new Lord.

The next day, as Watson is out walking, he meets both Stapleton and Franklin. Franklin proves prickly and leaves with his shotgun, on the look out for murderers and anything else he can shoot. When Stapleton rushes off to catch a butterfly, a young woman approaches Watson and tries to scare him into returning to London. This turns out to be Beryl, in her role as sister and seer, setting up Watson for later manipulation. Henry joins them next and he and Beryl hit it off well quickly.

Henry decides to hold a dinner to meet all the neighbors, though for the most part it appears that the only one he really cares to spend time with is Beryl. While preparing for the party, Sir Henry is indecisive and nervous and at the last minute realizes that he wants to serve champaign to his guests. He and Watson take a quick trip to the cellar to get some only to be attacked by Seldon as the uncover the Barrymores' actions to protect their murderous family member.

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Summary (Spoiler Version - pg 2)

The party itself doesn't go much better, ultimately. Dinner goes well, but the after dining conversation reveals longstanding conflicts, petty jealousy, and the fact that none of these neighbors get along. With the help of Holmes while in the disguise of the old Reverend, the evening implodes due to the fighting and accusations and, failing a bar to go get into a brawl at to blow off steam, Hank convinces Watson that the two of them should track Seldon out into the moor.

Henry believes that he sees Seldon and takes off to try to flank him. Watson tries to help while worrying about protecting the young Lord sees a Tinker (Holmes in disguise) dart out of hiding. While he is threatening the Tinker, they both see someone climbing up on one of the tors being chased by something... and there is a gun shot. Moments later, the man falls from the tor. They rush to find him and discover that he is dead. As various people (all the guests of the party) arrive, they believe it to have been Sir Henry... and then Henry himself arrives and we learn that it is Seldon, dressed in the old coat that Henry had given to the Barrymores to give to charity.

The neighbors all say their goodnights and head out... the Tinker tries to grab Watson's pistol and slip out but Henry draws on him and he stops. He pulls off his hat and beard to reveal that he was Holmes in disguise.

At this point, we take our intermission.

When we return, Holmes convinces Watson that his deception was necessary... and that deception is not something that Watson is good at. Then they begin a review of the clues and observations. At this point it is clear that Holmes knows who the murderer is and he makes a point of claiming that the case is over and done, that Seldon was the only danger. He convinces Sir Henry of this, later telling Watson that this ensures that the blunt speaking Henry will pass that along to all the neighbors ... leaving the murder to believe that Holmes and Watson have left believing the case was solved. They do much the same with a quick trip around town, insulting people and making sure everyone knows they have left. They then take the train back towards London, only to disembark at the first station. Now they'll double back by cart and get to the moors in time to rescue Sir Henry and reveal the killer.

Unfortunately, Holmes forgot to take one element into account. A huge fog bank has rolled in and they will be lucky to get back to the moors in time.

In a race to rescue Henry in time, they get a bit of luck. The murderer... setting up the night's attack by the hound realizes that she can become the Lady of Baskerville Hall just as easily by killing Jack and then marrying Henry as killing Henry and having Jack inherit while she is pretending to be his sister. So instead of the Hound attacking Henry... it attacks Jack. Holmes and Watson show up at just this moment, killing the hound and discovering that it has been painted in phosphorus to make it glow and look like a hell hound.

Beryl arrives, sinking her hooks into Henry a little more, not realizing that Holmes knows that she was Jack's wife not sister. When he reveals what he knows, she collapses and uses Watson's sympathy/chivalry to grab his pistol which she points at him to get Holmes to empty his pistol. At this point she monologues, clearly not having read the Evil Overlord List, and in all her maneuvering to keep everyone covered; she steps into the 'muck' of the Mire. Like quicksand, the more she struggles the faster she sinks and in a moment her only chance of rescue is the scarf that Henry has thrown to her. It is slipping out of her hands and she puts down the gun at Holmes' suggestion to get a better grip.

While the men try to pull her out, Mrs Barrymore picks up the gun and shoots through the middle of the scarf, consigning Beryl to her death in the Mire. The Barrymores and Sir Henry leave, making their way back to the Hall; which leaves Sherlock and Watson behind to admire the desolation of the Mire, the beauty of the moon, and... the howls of the Hound. Time to leave, yes?

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Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Conan Doyle is most famous as the inventor of Sherlock Holmes, but he had a varied career as a writer, journalist and public figure.

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh into a prosperous Irish family. He trained as a doctor, gaining his degree from Edinburgh University in 1881. He worked as a surgeon on a whaling boat and also as a medical officer on a steamer traveling between Liverpool and West Africa. He then settled in Portsmouth on the English south coast and divided his time between medicine and writing.

Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in 'A Study of Scarlet', published in 'Beeton's Christmas Annual' in 1887. Its success encouraged Conan Doyle to write more stories involving Holmes but, in 1893, Conan Doyle killed off Holmes, hoping to concentrate on more serious writing. A public outcry later made him resurrect Holmes. In addition, Conan Doyle wrote a number of other novels, including 'The Lost World' and various non-fictional works. These included a pamphlet justifying Britain's involvement in the Boer War, for which he was knighted and histories of the Boer War and World War One, in which his son, brother and two of his nephews were killed. Conan Doyle also twice ran unsuccessfully for parliament. In later life he became very interested in spiritualism.

Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on 7 July 1930.

From the Google+ page for Arthur Conan Doyle

A few quotes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle via his characters:

• How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,however improbable, must be the truth?

• It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

• Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.

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Sherlock HolmesAnalysis of the works of Doyle puts Holmes' birth around 1854 and roughly 60 years of age during his retirement in "The Last Bow" in 1914. He claims that his ancestors were country squires and his grandmother was sister to a French artist... but his parents are never mentioned in the canon stories. Sherlock's older brother Mycroft, a government official in civil service, is present in a number of them.

Holmes speaks of developing his methods of deduction as an undergraduate, his first cases for his fellow students. For six years after university, he pursued a profession as a consultant before taking on Watson as a fellow lodger. This is the point at which the first story, "A Study in Scarlet" begins.

The detective is known for his deductive skills and his great body of knowledge; but it is pointed out in the stories that Holmes may have great depth of knowledge in subjects which he deems important but takes great effort to avoid learning anything outside of those topics. Holmes is, it turns out, of the belief that one has a limited capacity for learning and that accumulating information which one will not use can hinder one from learning those things that one needs. As a result, while Sherlock can go into great detail over a type of soil and where it might be found... he might be posed a question of Astronomy or Literature and be entirely unable to provide a hint of knowledge on the subject.

The specific method by which Holmes deduces his conclusions for cases is called abductive reasoning. This is the use of observation based inferences. By this method he might see one or two clues and be able to infer how those two things might come into existence in the same place, leading to a conclusion.

Holmes would most likely be evaluated by today's psychology as a high functioning sociopath (NOT psychopath) and relies greatly on his friendship with Watson to keep him grounded and connected to the people around him. When not being challenged by a case or some sort of puzzle, he is often despondent or engages in self-destructive activities. For example, he is known to take both cocaine and morphine at times. These drugs were legal (though frowned upon by society) at this point in England.

The detective was also a master of disguise. His skill so profound that he could disappear into a ground and become someone else so quickly that he would be lost to an observer's view. Watson notes at one point that when Holmes chose to be a detective, the London stage lost a great actor. He was also capable of playing a violin, boxing, shooting (pistols), and a variation on a Japanese martial art using basic hand to hand and cane weapons.

In 1891, Holmes disappeared over a waterfall with Moriarty; supposedly dying in the process of taking his greatest enemy into death. This was, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's intent, to be the end of Sherlock Holmes in that story The Final Problem. It was met with such uproar by his readers that finally, after eight years hiatus, Doyle released another tale. That tale was Hound of the Baskervilles. However, Hound takes place before 1891... leaving Holmes dead according to the earlier story.

But finally, in 1903 (ten years after the 1893 release of The Final Problem); Conan Doyle wrote The Adventure of the Empty House set in 1893 in which Holmes reappears and explains to Watson how he faked his death to fool his enemies. This begins the second series of stories about the great Detective. His final death is never revealed and only one story occurs during his retirement after The Last Bow.

While most of us don't intend to be brilliant detectives, private or a part of a police department; the skill set of Sherlock Holmes begins with something that all of us can use. The tool I speak of is Observation. The ability to actually experience your environment and actually be aware of the elements of it is rare, trainable, and valuable in the job market. Writers, actors, teachers, human resources gurus, managers of all sorts, salespeople... all make an active use of what is commonly called 'people watching' to learn how people move, interact with each other, speak, and just generally go about their lives so that they can recreate specific types of interactions when their jobs require it. Or to know when an individual is in the right mindset to do what you want them to do. But before they can make use of what they see, they have to know how to look for it.

The first step of being a good observer is mind set. If you are in a hurry to get somewhere, or you consider the targets of your observation as unimportant; you will have a difficult time keeping your mind focused on those targets. Without focus, your brain will fill in the blanks for you before you realize it has even happened.

If you ever witness a crime or an accident, you will find that the police ask people the same questions over and over and of many different people. The more paranoid will insist that they do this to catch you lying or to trip you up. But it is simpler than that. Most people don't really see the details that the police need to figure out what happened. That young man who ran across the street and caused the accident? Did he have a hat on, did it have a color, how tall was he? Most of the people, even those who were looking the right direction, will not be able to answer simple questions like that accurately. They might remember that there was a hat... but they'll say it was a ball cap instead of a winter dockworker's hat. What they are looking for is not so much a consensus... but that one person who was really aware. Why were they aware of the hat? Because it meant something to them personally. For example, this is California... so when I (your study guide author grew up in western Pennsylvania) see someone with a Steeler's logo on it, I notice it.

It wasn't that I noticed the young guy crossing the street so much as my mindset when I'm out walking includes an awareness for people who support my favorite sports teams, despite being all the way on the other side of the country. For situations when I want to people watch, I have to give everything that level of importance... of awareness.

The second step is making your awareness a conscious thought. There are all sorts of things that we experience that we can describe in enormous detail a moment later... but can only vaguely reference as little as a day later. That is because the detail which were important in the moment were abstracted for long term storage in the brain. The key to this is giving each element context and consequence. Consider... how many times have you seen a dime? Hundreds? Thousands? What's the picture on the back of a dime? What are the words on the face side? Where is the date positioned? If you are a coin collector, you know these things... you know that they vary depending on when the dime was minted. But for the rest of us? What if I had to redraw the dime from scratch for a million dollars next week?

Finally, making practical use of observations. This part of it depends a lot on which field you are in. But any career that benefits from observation will tell you the same thing... practice. Find yourself a mall bench or a park bench and have a seat and just watch. Watch how people walk, how they bump into each other, or avoid touching. Notice the colors on signs. On buildings. Look for patterns and a lack of pattern. Then write it all done and see how close you came... before trying again.

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Observation before Deduction: When the Game is Afoot

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Arrive at the theater on time.

Visit the restroom before the performance begins.

Turn off your cell phone. Do not speak on the phone or text during the performance.

Pay attention to announcements that are made prior to the show about the rules of the

theater you are attending and the location of the fire exits.

Don't speak during the performance unless you are encouraged by the performers to

participate. Remember that the Overture (introductory music) in musical theater is part of

the performance, so be quiet when it begins.

Do not take pictures during the performance. It can be very distracting to the actors and can

cause a mishap. It can also be a violation of an actor's contract.

Remain in your seat for the entire performance. If you must leave, exit during intermission.

In an emergency, wait for an appropriate break in the show. It is rude to get up in the middle

of a quiet moment.

Do not eat or drink in the theater.

Do not put your feet up on the seats or balcony and do not kick the seat in front of you.

Don't put or throw anything on the stage.

Do laugh when the performance is funny.

Do applaud when it is appropriate during the performance.

Do applaud when the performance is over... this tells the performers and crew that you

appreciate their work.

Stand and applaud if you really thought the show was great (a standing ovation).

Do not whistle, stomp your feet, or scream out to the performers except for a Bravo or

Brava.

Theatre Etiquette

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Using What You've Learned to Learn More

Given the popularity of Sherlock Holmes, mystery novels, and the time since Doyle's original writing; it is not surprising to be able to find significant information about them, both informal and formal scholarly research.

Sherlock Holmes Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes

As usual, the starting place for online research is wikipedia... not as a destination for learning, but as a springboard for where to find further information on your subject.

Sherlock Holmes on the Webhttp://www.sherlockian.net

Among other things, this is a major fan site for all things Sherlockian... and if for any other reason, it is valuable because you can read all 60 stories on the site. Additionally, a fair amount of historical information, fan collections of trivia, and even some scholarly research is available there.

Sherlock Holmes Society of Londonhttp://sherlock-holmes.org.uk

Overlapping with the citizens and material of the Sherlockian site is the Holmes Society of London site. A more formal group, the Society's page comes across as very British; but is still a valuable resource to learn more about Holmes and the world he lived in. Also, this site spends a little more effort on the various recreations of Holmes over the years - including in film and television - instead of just the original written word.

Arthur Conan Doylehttp://arthurconandoyle.com

This site, run by the literary estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a good place to get details about the author, himself.