Theatre

The­atre De­part­ment Pre­sents Satir­i­cal Sher­lock Holmes

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MISHAWAKA–– Bethel Uni­ver­si­ty’s The­ater De­part­ment is putting on a pro­duc­tion Nov. 4-6 in the Ever­est-Rohrer Chapel ti­tled “Baskerville: A Sher­lock Holmes Mys­tery.” This pro­duc­tion is a spoof of Sir Arthur Co­nan Doyle’s clas­sic Sher­lock mys­tery, “The Hound of Baskervilles.” 

Ac­cord­ing to Deb Swer­man, di­rec­tor of act­ing, the show is strange and keeps a quick pace.  

“[It’s] a re­ally odd ren­di­tion, a comedic, fast-mov­ing ren­di­tion,” Swer­man said. 

Don Hunter, pro­duc­tion man­ager, was es­sen­tial for the pro­duc­tion of the show. Hunter’s brother, Zac Hunter, a Bethel alum­nus, works at the Phoenix The­ater in In­di­anapo­lis and has been the main con­tact for the de­sign of the set, de­spite the long dis­tance. 

The show only has five ac­tors in to­tal, with three of the ac­tors play­ing mul­ti­ple roles. Swer­man said this cre­ated a good chal­lenge for cast mem­bers, as some of the cos­tume changes hap­pen in 15 sec­onds or less, and some even hap­pen in front of the au­di­ence. 

“It’s made every­one have to work to­gether,” Swer­man said. 

The stu­dents were hands-on and and the en­tire de­part­ment con­tributed to the show, as stu­dents showed up on the week­ends to set up. 

“Ul­ti­mately, it’s fast mov­ing, it’s funny, and will ap­peal to our au­di­ence of many ages,” Swer­man said. “[It has] lots of di­alects, so don’t blink, you might miss some­thing!”