Adam Smith

Dr. Rosner

GEN 1033-003

10/16/15

Freshman Blogging Project: Sherlock Holmes

On Friday, October 2nd, at 7:30 p.m., I sprinted through the dark parking lot in the pouring rain towards Stockton University’s Performing Arts Center. As I neared the building I noticed a crowd of people standing inside. Contrary to my prior beliefs, I soon realized that the Sherlock Holmes play that I was about to watch was for more than just Stockton students, but also for those around the community who enjoy the arts. I entered the theatre in my rain-soaked clothes, took my seat amongst the audience and waited for the show to begin.

As the play commenced, I was shocked to see that the main character, Sherlock Holmes was played by a woman. Whispers murmured around the audience as soon as Holmes stepped on stage. The play continued on and it soon became apparent that not only was Holmes played by an actress, but the character was actually referred to as a “she”! Various characters, including Watson, who was played by a male, would refer to Holmes as a woman. The show went on and Holmes did as Holmes usually does, and used his or her heightened intelligence and analytical thinking process to solve an “unsolvable mystery”. In this case, the play actually focused on three simultaneous mysteries.

Due to the sex-change of the main character and the already confusing plot, I found myself struggling to keep along with the play’s storyline. Out of the three mysteries present in the play, I was only able to really follow one of them. This particular mystery revolved around a white husband and wife. The wife would often sneak out in the dead of night, long after her husband is asleep, and would venture off to an old abandoned house nearby. One night, her husband is awakened by her leaving and waits for her return. It is revealed to the audience, with the help of Holmes, that the woman was visiting the child of her previous husband. The child was African American and lived in the abandoned house, where the woman’s new husband would not see her.  

All ends well for the couple and the child, but I still found myself wondering why the director of the play chose to do what he did. Why did he or she change Holme’s sexuality, and not that of any other characters? Why did the director not inform the audience why he or she did this? I found that this took away from the play, not because Holmes was a woman, but because it was not explained. I found myself pondering this idea more so than the actual play’s  plot.

Sherlock Holmes is a world-renowned fictional character that has made appearances in all forms of media. In the Sherlock Holmes play hosted by Stockton University on October 2nd, the director of the performance made the decision to change the sexuality of the main character without explaining why. I would argue that this change had a negative impact on the play because it added to the confusion of the already perplexing plot. After discussing this topic with my peers, various conspiracies arose to why this happened. These explanations varied widely. Some believed that the director was trying to prove a point that women can play a role just as well as men, while others thought it was just because this particular actor could play the violin. A way to clear this confusion would be a simple explanation as to why the director chose to do this before or after the performance, rather than leaving the audience to attempt to guess for themselves. The play was an entertaining experience, but could have been easily enhanced with little effort.