Theater Review: CCTC/HJT’s ‘Baker Street Irregulars’ Is Interactive Fun

Be sure to arrive early for the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre’s production of “The Baker Street Irregulars: A Scandal in Bohemia." 

The show begins as soon as you enter the theater. Children dressed in clothing from the Sherlock Holmes era skitter around you and yell frantically. On opening night we witnessed some children from the audience inspired to join them as the young actors gathered here and there. This is Brian Lore Evans’s signature style of direction in his adaptations. (I attended his Dracula a few years ago and interaction was also encouraged.) 

Then the actual performance begins. A mysterious woman (the lovely and talented Ameila Burbine) enters onto what appears to be the backstage of a London theater. She seems scared and guarded, like she’s being followed. She hides a key and then the Baker Street Irregulars appear. These students and followers of the great Sherlock Holmes are astute at deduction and soon figure out most of her story. It doesn’t take them long to figure out the woman's name is Irene Adler and who is following her, one Wilhelm Ornstein. The game is afoot!  

This show is a “Page to Stage” initiative, which adapts beloved books into live theatrical productions. “The Baker Street Irregulars,” a book series by Terrence Dicks and “Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars" by Tracy Mack are the basis for the production. The production, adaptation and direction by Evans is a perfect example of the benefits of this sort of  initiative. Evans found a great cast to add to that engagement. 

“I’ve never seen a more grounded group of young actors who are able to navigate this delicate and suspenseful script, while also infusing it with humor, wit and love,” said Sam Sewell, a Cape-based self-described “theater artist.” Sewell is a former student and actor of the Harwich theater. 

The core group of Irregulars includes Wiggins (Coco Kemp), Theo (Ollie Shaw), Suds (Ciara Cannon), and Cecil (Victoria Lebedynskyi). Watching them piece together everything going on was quite a trip! They were fun and funny, and their accents were spot-on. The others in their puzzle-solving crew are Ella Froeschner, Phoebe Schuessler, Lillian Grever, Lincoln Gonella, Arai Nickerson and Isla Cannon. Just before the intermission, the children are off to Irene Adler’s apartment to find more clues. Then under stage manager Laura Froschner’s deft hand, the set is transformed to Irene’s apartment and the audience is encouraged to come up on the stage to explore and ask the actors (in character) questions. Boisterous joy filled the air as children from the audience realized they were onstage and, in a sense, part of the show. What a wonderful concept — interactive theater. As Sewell described it: “It was like a ‘please touch’ museum — but for theater.” 

In act two we finally meet Ornstein, played delightfully over-the-top by Nick Romano, and Sherlock Holmes, played with a playful yet respectful air by Jon Cornet.  

The fact that James Byrne's set is an actual backstage area of a London theater adds to the show's immersive quality. It is richly detailed and invites you visually to explore it whenever you can tear your eyes away from the engaging children. I loved how he utilized every bit of the CCTC/HJT stage, even the walls along the side. Katy Taylor's props deepen the effect, as do the lighting by tech director Matt Kohler and the sound design by Fionn Pina Parker. In addition to her stage-managing duties, Laura Froeschner operated the lightboard, while Alex Ingraham worked the soundboard. Amy Canaday's costumes were accurate and detailed. 

What an enjoyable show for all ages! It runs for more than two hours, including the interactive intermission, but the time flies by. Don't miss this experience.