ALT play, recipe for surprise

Five cast members, a beloved character straight from the late nineteenth century and plenty of comedy– the recipe for an outstanding Sherlock Holmes remake.

Amarillo Little Theatre is currently producing “Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery.” The play is a dramatic comedy based on Sir Arthur Connon Doyle’s mystery The Hounds of Baskerville, the third novel in his series featuring the world’s favorite detective.

ALT’s production follows the plot of Doyle’s book, but the play takes a humorous spin on the tale by making the characters in the play even more dramatic and using unexpected props in unexpected ways.

Surprise is the name of the game for “Baskerville”: from disrespecting bodies to strange characters to simple but well placed puns and irony, the play keeps its audience on its toes.

“Baskerville” consists of five cast members, three of who play switch characters at a breakneck pace. Each of them are unique and comical, but seeing a familiar face switch from being a sleazeball to acting like a well-meaning but ridiculous kiss up increases the appeal.

“Baskerville” doesn’t only use typical theatrical elements of comedy, it also breaks the conventions of theatre by having actors break character and the fourth wall among other rules, such as setting and time.

ALT’s production of “Baskerville” offers much more than these few quirks for the audience to enjoy and you should catch one of the last performances, but time is running out. 

ALT offers two more productions of “Baskerville”: one at 8 p.m. on Jan. 21 and one at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 22. Both are almost sold out, so reserve your tickets quickly from amarillolittletheatre.org.

ALT’s productions are professional and fun to watch because a lot of time and effort go into them. Also supporting ALT is supporting a local business that caters to our community.

“We try to put together a season that’s diverse and shows that we feel like will work well. We’re trying to have something different every time you come,” said Allen Shankles, who serves as the managing and artistic director for ALT.

ALT’s next plays are “School of Rock”, followed by “Peter and the Starcatcher.” “School of Rock” is a musical and will have an entirely different crew. “Peter and the Starcatcher” caters to children and will feature two of the cast of “Baskerville”: Brandon Dawson, Actor one and Kara Leimer, Actress one.

“It’s kind of an imagined origin story of Peter Pan,” said Leimer, followed by Dawson, who adds “It’s a very family friendly adventure story.”

More information about ALT productions, such as their show lineup, ticket price, time and location can be found at the website linked above.

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