It’s no mystery: University’s genderswapped Sherlock Holmes is remarkable

By Noah Fellinger ARTS EDITOR

The University of Wisconsin Madison’s Department of Theatre and Drama wrapped up a successful first run of their new production, “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson, APT. 2B,” on Aug. 6.

Endlessly endearing and hilarious, this exciting reimagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved stories swaps the genders of classic characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson and thrusts them into a contemporary, postCOVID world.

“Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson, APT. 2B”, guest directed by Emily Rollie and written by award-winning playwright Kate Hamill, sees the American Dr. Joan Watson (Nora Wondra) move to London in the year 2021, directionless in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When touring an apartment owned by the strungout Mrs. Hudson (Megan Tennessen), she meets the brilliant and eccentric Ms. Sherlock Holmes (Sophia Schmidt). The two become roommates destined to embark on many mysteries, aided by the somewhat dim Inspector Lestrade (Nicky Chier). As their odd friendship blossoms, the two cross paths with the alluring Irene Adler (Megan Tennessen) as well as a mysterious figure who seems to be secretly pulling the strings.

The play is the first in a series of four featuring female playwrights to be produced by the university theatre program throughout the 2023-24 season. As per the production’s playbill, Hamill’s work “celebrates theatricality, often features absurdity, and closely exam- ines social and gender issues.” These themes are front-and-center throughout the play.

Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson remain utterly true to the spirit of the original characters, so much so that one might forget that these are different versions of the characters at all. However, that’s not to say that this alteration doesn’t change the story in fresh and intriguing ways.

While Sherlock and Watson are now women, the other characters remain untouched. Archetypal femme fatale Irene Addler, fawned after by Sherlock in the original novels, remains a woman. This casts the relationship between her and Ms. Sherlock in a new, more queer light.

This choice also transforms two characters — who in the novels were firmly rooted in the misogynistic culture of the 19th century — into a pair of empowered, modern women.

“There’s something about specifically making Sherlock Holmes a woman that sort of flips everything on its head,” Schmidt told The Daily Cardinal. “When you make a misogynistic male character into a woman, it has weight… there aren’t many female characters that have the level of power Sherlock Holmes has in this fictional universe without it being a sexual power.”

Schmidt’s exceptional performance in the role truly capitalizes on this, fully embodying the captivating presence of Sherlock on stage with energetic bouts of rapier-flourishing and witty repartee. And, does so without overshadowing fellow castmates.

Of course, the characters’ gender-swap isn’t the only update which Hamill makes to the classic material. This version of Sherlock Holmes takes place in a post-pandemic 2021, and although COVID-19 isn’t a frequent focus of the story, its ghostly presence continues to haunt apartment 2B. Most characters periodically reference the pandemic, though rarely engage with it directly.

That is, with the exception of Dr. Joan Watson.

Light spoilers ahead.

Throughout the play, Watson appears troubled and is unable to stomach others’ pain despite being a physician. It’s eventually revealed in a monologue delivered by Watson that the stress and anxiety of working during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic left her traumatized. This is what led Watson to give up on medicine and move to London for a new start.

This monologue was the highlight of a skilled performance delivered by Wondra, and it’s one which invites the audience to reflect on one of the most uncertain and frightening periods in recent memory.

“I know that when I do that monologue, everybody knows what I’m talking about. There’s no question. They can imagine it, they can see it; they’ve seen the news and they’ve read the articles,” Wondra said. “That’s a huge part that can help people relate to Watson’s character.”

The rest of the cast gave phenomenal performances as well. Megan Tennessen had the daunting task of juggling multiple distinct characters throughout the play’s duration. Tennessen suc- ceeded with apparent ease, aided by a multitude of seamless costume and makeup changes. When Tennessen first switched from playing Mrs. Hudson to Lucy Drebber — one of her many roles — I was convinced that a different actor had taken the stage.

Likewise, Nicky Chier, who also plays multiple characters, was a clear delight for the audience. Chier’s performance as Inspector Lestrade was particularly entertaining. Chier’s impeccable comedic timing, gracefully over-the-top performance and clear vocal talent really stood out.

“Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson, APT. 2B” is a fresh and intelligent play which transforms a familiar premise into something exhilarating and new, aided by an exceptionally talented cast. Props must also be given to the production team, who assembled some truly exceptional lighting, soundwork and costume design for this production as well as a cleverly intricate set. I can’t recommend enough that you see this play when it picks up again on September 14th.

“It’s just so fun, and there are so many twists. There’s also so many jokes. So many, it’s hard to catch all of them…and for freshmen, I think it’s a good, light-hearted first place to introduce yourself to the theatre department,” Wondra said.

“What I would say to people who are even moderately interested in theater is to give it a chance, especially if you haven’t been involved in theater before college,” Schmidt said. “It’s not too late to explore your interests.”

By Gabriella Hartlaub STAFF WRITER

At long last, a film has arrived that answers some of the greatest questions of our time: Who is Barbie? What is she about? Can she really do everything? And most importantly, what ever happened to the Barbie whose hair I cut off and whose face I drew on?

The new hit film “Barbie” answers all these questions and many more in a fun and refreshingly subversive way.

“Barbie” is a film that can be described using words like “pinkalicious,” beach and inescapablethoughts-of-death. It’s safe to say those looking for a soulless IP film meant to advertise Barbie dolls, or parents preparing themselves for a 90-minute singing extravaganza a la “Frozen” may find this film is not what they thought it was.

The film, directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written with her partner Noah Baumbach, follows a Barbie doll as she leaves the safety of Barbie Land and travels to the real world in order to seal a rift between the two universes.

For those of us who subscribe to the church of Greta Gerwig, the surprisingly heavy themes of the movie should be no surprise. Gerwig is known for her examinations of womanhood. She’s also known for her show-stopping third act monologues which manage to animate the audience through either clapping or tears.

Gloria (America Ferrera), a Mattel employee and Barbie enthusiast, delivers a similar monologue during the film. Ferrera had a standout performance that contributes a uniquely human perspective to the plastic world of Barbie.

Gloria delivers a rousing speech on the experience of being a woman — complete with some intro to feminism lessons — in a way that makes you feel like you’re being talked to instead of talked at. Gloria’s relationship with her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) secures her a place in Gerwig’s fictional mothers hall of fame alongside Laura Dern from “Little Women”, and Laurie Metcalf from “Lady Bird”.

If you hadn’t picked up on it already, “Barbie” is a film about womanhood. But the Barbie doll itself is a conundrum.

Barbie is supposed to represent all women, but she only looked a certain way for a long time. She could do anything, but only within reason. She’s independent, but somehow she always ends up looking after all of her friends and eventual younger siblings.

In Gerwig’s Barbie Land, none of those contradictions exist. Barbie can truly be anything, and by some miracle, she’s respected as such no matter if her job is astronaut, construction worker or Nobel Prize-winning physicist (take that Oppenhiemer!). Though the film focuses on “Stereotypical Barbie” (Margot Robbie), it asserts Barbie can be anyone and features disabled Barbies, Barbies of all races and transgender Barbies.

In my opinion, the film didn’t need to focus on a stereotypical Barbie, but I’ll be the first to admit the world is not quite ready for that yet.

Still, in Barbie Land, the Kens are treated as an afterthought. In a twist from our reality, it’s the Kens who cheer for the Barbies as they play volleyball. Ryan Gosling’s “Stereotypical Ken” has a job that he describes as “beach… just beach,” and simply looks cool while the Barbies do their thing.

I won’t lie, plenty of films have tried to critique sexism and misogyny through thinly veiled metaphors, or in this case a reverse of the issue itself. But Gerwig’s script makes the concept feel fresh. In the real world, a Mattel intern asks the CEO, “I’m a man with no power, does that make me a woman?”. As the Kens rebel against their treatment in the second half of the film, we find that statement is untrue.

This reveals another layer of the film’s take on womanhood. When the Barbies were in charge, the Kens were simply out of mind and powerless, but not made to do anything they didn’t want to. In the new “Kendom,” women are subjected like they are in the real world. They’re made to be less than Kens and forced to lose their homes and careers in favor of service to the Kens’ every need. Gerwig’s point is clear: Women are not men with no power. Rather, they are actively subjugated in both Kendom and in the real world.

Our journey into this film runs parallel to Barbie’s journey into the real world. Stereotypical Barbie is disheartened to find that the real world wasn’t what she’d been told and that Barbie hadn’t fixed everything for women. “The real world isn’t what I thought it was,” she laments to Barbie creator Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman).

Perlman’s character smiles, and offers her a hidden piece of hope, “Isn’t that wonderful?”

The real world isn’t what Barbie thought it was, and this movie isn’t what many thought it was going to be. But throughout the film, which clocks in at a glorious hour and 45 minutes, it proves to be all the more wonderful for it.

With Barbie, everything comes together: the writing, the acting, the amazing costume and set design and even the film’s soundtrack—the standout being Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” that underscores a touching montage near the end of the film.

“Who is Barbie?” is a question that becomes uniquely intertwined with another one by the end of the film: Who are we as women and as humans? Maybe it’s for the better that this particular question remains unanswered.