Bishopstoke Players 
Durley Memorial Hall, Southampton
Jon Cockeram 
01 October 2026
There have been many great detectives over the years, from Miss Marple to Inspector Morse, but none have endured quite as well as Sherlock Holmes, the creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Not only was he brought back from the dead by Doyle due to massive public demand after Doyle had tried to kill him off, but he’s found many a new incarnation over the years, such as the Young Sherlock Holmes film and TV series, BBC’s Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch, and the Elementary series set in America with Johnny Lee Miller as the titular character.
Now, in addition to this, we have Sherlock Holmes and the Chronological Conundrum, an entirely new play written by Adrian Barrett, one of the members of Bishopstoke Players, that tells us a tale with well known characters reinterpreted, plenty of laughs and a suitable mystery – Queen Victoria has been assassinated! Hang on, now she hasn’t. What’s going on?
Adriano Sapelli brings Sherlock Holmes to life with a wise and, at times, world weary demeanour, and Daniel Sims plays Dr Watson as an excellent foil to this with natural exuberance and energy – the two work incredibly well together as a duo. They’re helped by Charlotte Forster as their landlady, Mrs Hudson, who has a particularly saucy spin on the character, especially when dealing with Inspector L’Strade, played to perfection by Steve Hunter. In fact Steve manages one of the most impressive pieces of physical theatre of the play, repeatedly running around from side to side of the stage and only appearing ever so slightly out of breath towards the end. The supporting cast (ranging from an American Irene Adler to a bloke named Gary in a gorilla outfit, even the writer of the play has a cameo as an inappropriately dressed vicar) all do an amazing job as well and really help bring the entire production to life.
Whilst the set is relatively simple, with only one location used (no prizes for deducing that it’s 221B Baker Street!), great use is made of it with plenty of dashing on and off. There’s a degree of self-awareness in the play too, with plenty of fourth wall breaking, arguments with the props team (who, it turns out, really don’t like Sherlock), phone conversations with the director and so on – that being said, all these teams have done a great job with their individual tasks. Costumes looked amazing, props used were appropriate, lighting was simple but effective and special mention should go to JJ on the sound desk for keeping up with the timings of some of the trickier sound cues at points.
Were there any issues with the play? There were a couple of points where the flow of the lines lagged a little or where entrances on stage appeared to be a little delayed, but this can easily be attributed to opening night nerves and the cast covered for them well when necessary. Beyond that, the cast and crew have done a brilliant job of bringing this play to life under Barry Kitchen’s direction and everyone should be very proud of what they’ve managed to achieve.
The game remains afoot with the case of Sherlock Holmes and the Chronological Conundrum at Durley Memorial Hall until 3rd October. Come see the show – it’s elementary!
