I went to watch a Sherlock Holmes play this afternoon. It seemed to have a problem about what it was. It was set in the Conan Doyle Holmes universe, after Reichenbach Falls faked death. It was a completely new mystery. It seemed to be playing to the Sherlock audience a bit too much for me. I love Sherlock but it gets to do different things because it’s a different thing to Sherlock Holmes. This seemed to be going canonical with the Conan Doyle novels but with the odd bit of camp humour.

What makes me immediately warm to a room of people is that they all laugh when someone says a swear word. When Watson said “Oh shit!” everyone in the Opera House laughed. I was both disgusted at what people will laugh at and that someone had made Watson say this. After the interval someone said “no shit Sherlock” to Sherlock Holmes.  I was already a ‘sorry this isn’t for me’ by this stage.

I also had an issue with the undercurrent of the sexual side to the relationship between the Holmes and Watson. Because it was not done as an undercurrent and featured a kiss (Holmes was passed out). I don’t have an issue with someone doing a version where there is a relationship between A Holmes and A Watson – but not THE Homes and THE Watson. Not because there is anything wrong with it but because THE Holmes and THE Watson aren’t gay.

Also the guy who played Watson was the transvestite lover of Audrey Roberts from Coronation Street. And he has a distinctive voice which you could mistake for someone trying to sad overly serious about everything as a piss-take.

On the plus side: the set was fantastic and the lady playing Irene Adler did a scene in stockings.