LES
AR
CH
BY
MA
Z
RO WIT
ED
EC T
BY
MA RIA AIT KEN
DI R
RD
LY FUN
US
ERO
NY
CU LA SH RR S E ICU T R LUM CA LO C S GU E K’ IDE S MU
TABLE OF CONTENTS Common Core Standards 3 Massachusetts Standards in Theatre 4 Artists 5 Themes for Writing and Discussion 7 Mastery Assessment 9 For Further Exploration 10 Suggested Activities 14 Recommendations for Further Reading and Viewing 16
Š Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115 September 2018 No portion of this curriculum guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education & Community Programs Inquiries should be directed to: Alexandra Smith | Interim Co-Director of Education asmith@huntingtontheatre.org This curriculum guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by: Ivy Ryan | Teaching Artist Fellow Alexandra Smith | Interim Co-Director of Education
COMMON CORE STANDARDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
STANDARDS: Student Matinee performances and pre-show workshops provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and support various combinations of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. They may also support standards in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History, depending on the individual play’s subject matter. Activities are also included in this Curriculum Guide and in our pre-show workshops that support several of the Massachusetts state standards in Theatre. Other arts areas may also be addressed depending on the individual play’s subject matter. Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 1
Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 5
•
Grade 7: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
•
Grade 7: Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.
•
Grade 8: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
•
Grades 9-10: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks), create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.
•
Grades 9-10: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
•
•
Grades 11-12: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Grades 11-12: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 2
Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 6 •
Grade 7: Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
•
Grade 7: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
•
Grade 8: Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
•
Grade 8: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide and objective summary of the text.
•
Grades 9-10: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
•
Grades 9-10: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
•
Grades 11-12: Analyze a case in which grasping point of view required distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
•
Grades 11-12: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 3 •
Grade 7: Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
•
Grade 8: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
•
Grades 9-10: Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the themes.
•
Grades 11-12: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop related elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7 •
Grade 7: Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).
•
Grade 8: Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.
•
Grades 9-12: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g. recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist).
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
3
MASSACHUSETTS STANDARDS IN THEATRE ACTING •
1.7: Create and sustain a believable character throughout a scripted or improvised scene (By the end of Grade 8).
AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE
•
1.12: Describe and analyze, in written and oral form, characters’ wants, needs, objectives, and personality characteristics (By the end of Grade 8).
•
1.13: In rehearsal and performance situations, perform as a productive and responsible member of an acting ensemble (i.e., demonstrate personal responsibility and commitment to a collaborative process) (By the end of Grade 8).
Attending live theatre is a unique experience with many valuable educational and social benefits. To ensure that all audience members are able to enjoy the performance, please take a few minutes to discuss the following audience etiquette topics with your students before you come to the Huntington Theatre Company.
•
1.14: Create complex and believable characters through the integration of physical, vocal, and emotional choices (Grades 9-12).
•
1.15: Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by developing a character analysis (Grades 9-12).
•
1.17: Demonstrate increased ability to work effectively alone and collaboratively with a partner or in an ensemble (Grades 9-12).
•
How is attending the theatre similar to and different from going to the movies? What behaviors are and are not appropriate when seeing a play? Why?
•
Remind students that because the performance is live, the audience’s behavior and reactions will affect the actors’ performances. No two audiences are exactly the same, and therefore no two performances are exactly the same—this is part of what makes theatre so special! Students’ behavior should reflect the level of performance they wish to see.
•
Theatre should be an enjoyable experience for the audience. It is absolutely all right to applaud when appropriate and laugh at the funny moments. Talking and calling out during the performance, however, are not allowed. Why might this be? Be sure to mention that not only would the people seated around them be able to hear their conversation, but the actors on stage could hear them, too. Theatres are constructed to carry sound efficiently!
•
Any noise or light can be a distraction, so please remind students to make sure their cell phones are turned off (or better yet, left at home or at school!). Texting, photography, and video recording are prohibited.
•
Food, gum, and drinks should not be brought into the theatre.
•
Students should sit with their group as seated by the Front of House staff and should not leave their seats once the performance has begun.
READING AND WRITING SCRIPTS •
2.7: Read plays and stories from a variety of cultures and historical periods and identify the characters, setting, plot, theme, and conflict (By the end of Grade 8).
•
2.8: Improvise characters, dialogue, and actions that focus on the development and resolution of dramatic conflicts (By the end of Grade 8).
•
2.11: Read plays from a variety of genres and styles; compare and contrast the structure of plays to the structures of other forms of literature (Grades 9-12).
TECHNICAL THEATRE •
4.6: Draw renderings, floor plans, and/or build models of sets for a dramatic work and explain choices in using visual elements (line, shape/ form, texture, color, space) and visual principals (unity, variety, harmony, balance, rhythm) (By the end of Grade 8).
•
4.13: Conduct research to inform the design of sets, costumes, sound, and lighting for a dramatic production (Grades 9-12).
CONNECTIONS •
Strand 6: Purposes and Meanings in the Arts — Students will describe the purposes for which works of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and architecture were and are created, and, when appropriate, interpret their meanings (Grades PreK-12).
•
Strand 10: Interdisciplinary Connections — Students will apply their knowledge of the arts to the study of English language arts, foreign languages, health, history and social science, mathematics, and science and technology/engineering (Grades PreK-12).
FIND US ONLINE! Did you know the Huntington Theatre Company’s website provides students and teachers opportunities to more deeply explore the season’s offerings and learn about upcoming events in the Education department? Utilizing the website at huntingtontheatre.org find the answers to the following questions:
4
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
1.
Who will play the titular role of Sherlock Holmes in the Huntington’s production of Sherlock’s Last Case? What are some other roles he has played?
2. Who is the Artistic Director of the Huntington Theatre Company? Who is the Managing Director? How long have they each been in their respective positions? 3. Your friend broke her foot and needs to use a wheelchair. What accessibility services does the Huntington provide for patrons like her?
ARTISTS In his work, Marowitz employed a vast array of techniques that were traditionally cinematic, such as jump cuts, dream sequences, harsh lighting, and other tricks to heighten the visual experience for his audiences. However, it was his fast-and-loose “free adaptations” of the classics that brought him greatest notoriety in the theatre. Always out for the attention-grabbing theatrical coup, he staged a black power Othello, a feminist tragedy The Taming of the Shrew, and a Freudian Hedda Gabler in which Hedda rode her father around the stage, thrashing him with a whip.
Playwright Charles Marowitz
PLAYWRIGHT CHARLES MAROWITZ Charles Marowitz (1932 - 2014) was a provocative avant-garde theatre artist who played many creative roles in his career as a theatre maker. Marowitz worked as a director, playwright, theatre company founder, teacher, author, artistic director, and critic in both the United States and England. A self-identified scrooge of cultural anti-intellectuals and unadventurous mainstream theatre, Marowitz made and vocally advocated for controversial theatre that was uncensored and outside the box. When Marowitz arrived in England in 1956, he brought with him acting techniques from New York then largely unfamiliar to the theatre community in the UK. “Having proved myself a failure at drama schools both in New York and London,” he said, “it seemed the most natural thing to set up an acting school of my own.” He began with workshops in which actors amazed themselves by improvising new scenes from old texts. He co-founded a magazine called Encore, the self-styled “voice of vital theatre,” which chronicled the rapidly shifting aesthetics and cultural values of contemporary theatre in the United Kingdom from 1954 – 1965. During his years in London, Marowitz directed several West End premieres, among them Joe Orton’s Loot, Sam Shepard’s Tooth of Crime, John Herbert’s Fortune and Men’s Eyes, and Eugene Ionesco’s Makbett. His collaborations on Royal Shakespeare Company productions of King Lear, Peter Weiss’s Marat/Sade, and Jean Genet’s The Screens led, in 1964, to a “Theatre of Cruelty” season at the Royal Shakespeare Company. This was inspired by the ideas of the French theorist, Antonin Artaud, a great hero of Marowitz’s, who had proposed that theatre should assault the senses of the audience to stimulate their fundamental fears and reveal, as Marowitz put it, “the existential horror behind all social and psychological facades.” Charles Marowitz was co-director of the Royal Shakespeare Experimental Group in the early 1960s and went on to co-found the experimental Open Space Theatre in London with Thelma Holt, serving as its artistic director for eleven years until its closure in 1980. The Open Space staged complex, evocative material and, although it never had the resources to pay a resident acting company, there was a pool of fine performers who repeatedly worked with the company. This enabled Marowitz to present original experimental adaptations for mature audiences, which formed the theatre’s core repertory.
Marowitz had no reservation about revising the works of Shakespeare, observing that in his opinion, the Bard was “capable of some horrifically bad writing.” Marowitz’s productions frequently featured explicit onstage sex scenes. He held significant disdain for Hamlet and his production of the play included a scene in which Hamlet raped Ophelia. “I despise Hamlet,” he explained. “Like the parlour liberal or paralyzed intellectual, he can describe every facet of a problem yet never pull his finger out ... You may think he’s a sensitive, well-spoken and erudite fellow but, frankly, he gives me a pain in the ass.” Marowitz’s only play to have a life beyond the Open Space Theatre was Sherlock’s Last Case, written to plug a scheduling gap at the Open Space in 1974. It was later produced on Broadway in 1987. Some audiences were alienated by Marowitz’s cold manner and his incorrigible habit of reviewing his colleagues in print. “Maybe I don’t suffer fools gladly,” he said in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 2002 after he was removed as artistic director of the Malibu Stage Company for having insulted several members. Nothing in his contract, he added, said “I had to be a sweet fellow.”
QUESTIONS: 1.
Consider Sherlock’s Last Case within Charles Marowitz’s body of work. How does it reflect his aesthetics and approach to theatrical storytelling? In what ways is it different from his other work?
2.
Marowitz was well-known for flipping classics on their head and adapting them to make them unapologetically his own. If you could adapt any classic story which book, play, or movie would you choose and why? Describe what you would change and the reasoning behind your choices.
3.
Read one of Charles Marowitz’s adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays and Shakespeare’s original text. Compare and contrast these versions of the same story. How did the changes Marowitz made affect the story? Which version did you prefer and why?
4. Charles Marowitz was a champion for unconventionality. Why is it important for artists to push the limits of their creativity? How can controversy be beneficial in art? 5.
“An actor is someone who remembers . . . someone who remembers his lines, his cues . . . who remembers what it felt like to be spurned, to be proud, to be angry . . . who remembers the primordial impulses that inhabited his body before he was ‘civilised’ . . . what it feels like to be partnered, to be set adrift, to be reclaimed . . . To be without memory and to be an actor is inconceivable.” — The Act of Being by Charles Marowitz (1978) Explain Marowitz’s definition of acting in your own words. What do you believe is the role of an actor? SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
5
Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and in London’s West End, she appeared in leading roles in Hay Fever, Blithe Spirit, Bedroom Farce, Travesties, Waste, Private Lives, and The Vortex, among others. She has been described by Shakespeare Theatre Company’s artistic director Michael Kahn as “perhaps the foremost interpreter, as an actress, of Noël Coward in our time,” having played more of Coward’s leading women in the West End than anyone to date. Her film credits include A Fish Called Wanda for which she was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award.
Director Maria Aitken
Ms. Aitken is a visiting teacher at the British American Drama Academy, The Juilliard School, Yale School of Drama, New York University, The Actors Center in New York, and the Academy for Classical Acting. She is the author of two books, A Girdle Round the Earth, a story of some of the most remarkable female travelers in the last 200 years, and Style: Acting in High Comedy, which contends that “High comedies are not bloodless, refined, wordy plays — their themes are sex, money, and social advancement. They contain a splendid contradiction: wit and elegance at the service of man’s basest drives.”
DIRECTOR MARIA AITKEN
QUESTIONS:
As a director, Maria Aitken is best known for her Olivier and Tony Award-winning production of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, which she directed at the Huntington Theatre Company in 2007 as its American premiere before its three-year Broadway and Off Broadway runs. Additionally, the production ran in London’s West End for nine years. For the Huntington Theatre Company, Ms. Aitken has also directed Bedroom Farce (2016), The Seagull (2014), The Cocktail Hour (2013), Betrayal (2012), Private Lives (2012), and Educating Rita (2011). Some of her other international directing credits include The Importance of Being Earnest (The Old Globe, San Diego), Tartuffe, and Heartbreak House (Delaware Resident Ensemble Players), the Tony Award-nominated Man and Boy (West End and Broadway), The Gift (Geffen Playhouse and Melbourne Theatre, Australia), As You Like It (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Quartermaine’s Terms (Williamstown Theatre Festival), The Cocktail Hour (Guthrie Theater), Sherlock’s Last Case (The Watermill Theatre, UK), Noël Coward’s Easy Virtue (Chichester Festival Theatre), Lady Bracknell’s Confinement (Vineyard Theatre, NYC), School for Scandal (Clwyd Theatr Cymru, UK), As You Like It (Regent’s Park, UK), and many others.
1.
Despite an acclaimed career as an actor on the British stage, Aitken quit acting in her early 60s, stating that “I didn’t want to prance anymore. You can grow out of it.” But as an actor in London at the Royal
“
“I first became enchanted with the stage when my mother took me to see the ballet in Norwich aged five. I came back absolutely glowing and told my grandfather all about it. He said I should write to the lead ballerina. So I did and she sent me a signed photograph of herself. Then when I was seven I wrote a play, with the very precocious title Havoc Among the Lovers, and my family was press ganged into performing it. I cunningly wrote myself a small part with all the best jokes. From then on I had the acting bug. It is an extraordinary escapism, and I think it’s probably saved me a fortune in shrinks.” — Maria Aitken What do you think Maria Aitken means by calling the performing arts “extraordinary escapism?” How is her story of falling in love with the stage reflected in the work Aitken has gravitated towards making in her career?
2.
Maria Aitken worked with more than 50 directors over the course of her acting career and said in an interview with the Huntington in 2012 said that she tends to “pinch the good things from some of those [she] liked.” What are things have you have learned that you “pinched” from classmates, teachers, celebrities, co-workers, and mentors you admire?
I am looking forward enormously to returning to the Huntington, my favorite regional theatre in America — no, amend that — in the world. It’s the people who work there, of course. They’re not only immensely skilled at what they do, which can’t be for the money, they are magnificently supportive of my choices. I know whatever vision my designers and I come up with, it will somehow be realized.” — MARIA AITKEN, in an interview about the Huntington Theatre Company (2016)
6
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
THEMES FOR WRITING AND DISCUSSION THE DANGERS OF RESENTMENT Sherlock’s Last Case is a prime example of the risk of resentment and what can happen when it goes unchecked. Conflicts and disagreements between co-workers who spend lots of time together will always arise and how individuals handle these situations can impact the quality of work, the mood of the working environment, and overall morale. In Charles Marowitz’s Sherlock’s Last Case, rather than directly addressing the issues they experience, silence and restraint allow resentments to fester, and over time, to warp, distort, and transform people into crueler versions of themselves. Dr. Watson is one such example of someone whose feelings of jealousy, frustration, and bitterness towards someone else (no spoilers!) have been boiling under the surface for years. Watson’s transformation is a central plot point in Sherlock’s Last Case. He presents himself as a man whose pride has been trampled on countless times and has finally reached the breaking point. He demands the recognition he believes he is due — his time in the spotlight — at any cost. Watson’s resentment seeps deep into his psyche and only fully reveals its repercussions at the end of Act I. Watson is lost to his emotions and all-encompassing hatred, so much so that an affirmation leads him to snap and finally display the ugliness that has been bubbling under the surface. Watson reveals, “A slight, infinitesimal shiver . . . ran through my nervous system . . . during every deft comment you ever uttered in correcting the muggy little obscurities and confusions of my own pathetic mind . . . A slight here, a sarcasm there, the ego first rubbed the wrong way then bruised, then battered, then seething with convulsions of rage and dark dreams of revenge.” Watson confesses the ways in which this bile has degraded his mind and spirit. Later, he even concedes that he knows his madness is easily diagnosable: “What is its root, and its cause? You are the root and cause of my madness.” Resentment emerges for many of the characters in Sherlock’s Last Case in revolting and surprising ways. In this play, anger leads to dark and bloody paths of betrayal, violence, broken trust, deceit, and revenge.
QUESTIONS: 1.
2.
3.
Reread Act I, Scene 4 in which Watson confronts his nemesis in the cellar. What led Watson to resent this person? How does the other person react to this outpouring of information? There is a world where Watson’s revenge plot could have been avoided. How could this series of unfortunate events have been altered? What could the other person have done differently? What could Watson have changed? Knowing what you do about playwright Charles Marowitz’s artistic aesthetic, why might he have chosen to reimagine these familiar characters in this new, different way?
4. Have you ever let resentment get the best of you? Why are hurt feelings that go unaddressed so dangerous? How did your situation end?
Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Doctor Watson
UNCOVERING THE TRUTH Sherlock’s Last Case would not be a proper Sherlock Holmes adventure without surprising reveals of hidden truths, unearthed through observation, logic, and forensic science. In Charles Marowitz’s play, there are many instances of orchestrated deception and false clues that force characters to dig through layers of information to separate fact from fiction. In a typical Sherlock Holmes story, the deducing detective is the one to uncover the truth and find the culprit in the end, but in this play, the reveals are sprinkled throughout, catching the audience by surprise at every turn. The play opens as Sherlock Holmes explains to his assistant, Dr. Watson, how he used close observation and scientific knowledge to discover a shocking truth about a woman named Madame Neander:
HOLMES: Earlier the same evening, as the guests assembled in the great hall . . . you remember how the women all arrived in a great bunch . . . well, did you notice anything odd as they were standing before the looking-glass in that great hall?
WATSON: Only that they were preening themselves like jackdaws, as they always do.
HOLMES: All but one.
WATSON: (Suddenly realizing.) Madame Neander!
HOLMES: What woman who truly was a woman, would miss a chance of admiring herself in the glass. That, I fear was the fatal giveaway.
(I.1) Next, Holmes begins an extended investigation to fend off threats from Simeon Moriarty, the vengeful offspring of his deceased nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Holmes follows a trail of clues on his journey towards the truth: handwritten letters, a conversation with Simeon’s sister, Liza, a discovery of Watson tied up with chloroform on his lapel, and even the arrival of a mysterious package. Holmes is driven to separate facts from diversions, and when he has the opportunity to interview Liza, he analyzes the handwriting in Simeon’s letters and carefully
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
7
fact-check every detail of Liza’s story before he agrees to meet her at the rendezvous location. He informs Watson, “The character of Simeon Moriarty’s hand does suggest an unstable personality with marked proclivity towards rash action. The P’s and T’s are precisely those of a man consumed with revenge” (I.4). However, what Holmes could not anticipate is that these clues were carefully fabricated by someone who would know all of Holmes’s methods of deduction. The culprit reveals, “Knowing full well you would use your expert powers to analyze that scrawl and since my scheme called for just such a character, I took it upon myself to write the letter in longhand. It was bravado, I grant you, but you see I banked on the fact that through all these years, you have been so consumed with your own affairs and so oblivious of mine that never, in a thousand years, would you have recognized my handwriting.” Although the truth is often murky and there are obstacles of deceit along the way, the truth in a detective story is always found out — sooner or later.
QUESTIONS: 1.
What tools does Sherlock Holmes use to uncover the truth in Sherlock’s Last Case? Which skill do you find the most effective and/ or impressive?
2.
How do you discover the truth in your life? Are you more often on the right trail of the wrong trail? How do you deal with deception? How do you spot clues?
PARTNERSHIPS AND RIVALRIES In Charles Marowitz’s Sherlock’s Last Case, iconic partnerships collapse and new alliances form, while traditional friends become foes and enemies become allies. Whether characters are on the same team or members of opposing sides, the interpersonal dynamics are marked by complex, shifting allegiances in which the one constant is the competitive edge between parties, as each pushes to outdo the other.
on his life, but Holmes sees Lestrade’s presence as an unnecessary intrusion. Holmes treats Lestrade as a meddlesome burden for which he has no need or time. When he believes Lestrade has overstepped his boundaries, Holmes attempts to cut his rival down by noting, “your cloying sense of paternalism is really becoming quite obnoxious” (Act I, Scene 3). The next time Lestrade joins the story, it is eighteen months later midway through Act II, Scene 1, where he is executing part one of a plot to help Holmes. Lestrade reveals that Holmes has actually sought Lestrade’s help. “Holmes came to me with the most incredible story I ever heard. One that I couldn’t for the life of me believe,” he recalls in Act II, Scene 2. As the partnership between Holmes and Watson becomes tenuous, Holmes reevaluates who has partnership potential. Lestrade, a professional rival whose detective skills have proven him to be Holmes’s peer in the field, fits the bill perfectly.
QUESTIONS: 1.
“I — I want you to know this. Those eighteen months without you were the longest in my life. I hated you! I loathed you! I wanted to be free of you — I was certain of that, but the fact remains, during those eighteen months, I was quietly and unconsolably miserable. Perhaps when one hates someone as intensely as I did you, it turns into some perverse kind of love; I don’t know.” — Watson, Act II, Scene 3. What does this quote reveal about Watson’s dependence on Holmes? How can love and hate coexist in a single relationship?
2.
What are “frenemies?” How and why do these relationships develop?
3.
What partnerships in your life are strong? How do you work together as a team? What are your strengths as a duo?
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are a globally revered team that works together closely to solve seemingly unsolvable mysteries. In Sherlock’s Last Case, however, there is conflict between the two that may change the nature of their relationship forever. The outside world (both the world of fictional Victorian London and the real world of readers and audience) believes these two have a happy and healthy working relationship and deeply respect each other’s contributions. But Watson has not experienced their relationship that way and confesses his perception that Holmes does not see him as capable or an equal. “I am a Doctor of Medicine,” he says. “I trained. I studied. I was honoured at University . . . I won awards. When I walked down a hospital corridor, then I was no flunkey, no lapdog but a respected member of the medical profession with a flair for literature and an enviable intellect. But later, after you had insinuated yourself on my personality and into the minds of everyone who knew me, I was those things no longer. I was poor bumbly Watson, you know, the good-natured stooge of that detective. Watson’s the other one, the dull chap who never gets it quite right” (Act I, Scene 4). Could these feelings of inadequacy and insecurity cause Watson to regard his partner, Holmes, as his pompous rival? Throughout this play a new partnership can be tracked between Inspector Lestrade, a police officer from Scotland Yard, and Sherlock Holmes, a private detective. In Victorian London, members of the police force, such as Lestrade, and investigators working in private practice, such as Holmes, were in competition to solve cases and win the public’s trust. The first time Lestrade appears on stage in Act I, Scene 3, Holmes asserts his authority by remarking, “Lestrade, you are making a bloody nuisance of yourself.” Lestrade may be trying to Holmes from threats
8
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as the iconic duo, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson
MASTERY ASSESSMENT ACT I
ACT II
SCENE 1
SCENE 1
1.
1.
What is this scene’s setting?
2. How did Holmes deduce that Madam Neander was a man in disguise?
What is the significance of the letter Watson reads aloud?
2. How does Mrs. Hudson feel about Holmes being gone?
3. What omen occurs in this scene?
3. Why does Mrs. Hudson call the fellow from Bognor “wicked?”
4. Who must Mrs. Hudson visit immediately? What is Holmes’s opinion on the matter?
4. Why does Inspector Lestrade bring someone to the house on Baker Street?
5. Why is the letter from Moriarty important? What information does it contain?
5. What kind of test does Watson put to “Mr. Holmes?”
SCENE 2
6. What determination does Watson ultimately make about the visitor?
6. Who pays Holmes a visit and for what purpose?
SCENE 2
7. How did Liza’s parents meet and fall in love?
7. Why does Watson return to the scene of the crime?
8. What is the course of action proposed to deal with Moriarty? Does Holmes accept it?
8. Who is the Voice In Darkness?
SCENE 3
10. Who was the quick-change artist?
9. What is Lestrade trying to convince Holmes is a good idea? Who wins the argument?
11. How did Holmes make it out of the death trap alive?
10. Why is Watson late to the meeting? 11. What is the message on the surprise parcel? 12. Why is Watson nervous about Miss Moriarty?
SCENE 4 13. What precautions has Holmes taken for this encounter with the Moriarty siblings? 14. What is the real reason why Holmes has been lured to this location? 15. What is Watson’s motivation for his actions in this scene? What crime does Watson accuse Holmes of committing?
9. What is Lestrade’s part in this series of events?
12. What is the solution that Holmes offers to Watson? 13. Describe the resolution of this scene.
SCENE 3 14. Why did Holmes decline his knighthood? 15. Who is the man who broke into Holmes’s house and for what purpose? 16. What transpires when Damion tells Holmes he must kill Watson? 17. Who is Damion revealed to truly be?
16. Who is Bertha Walmsley? 17. How does Watson plan to cover his tracks? 18. What argument does Holmes make in an attempt to persuade Watson that he needs him?
NILE HAWVER
19. What song plays at the end of the scene? Who played this song earlier in the play? How is it different this time?
Mark Zeisler as Doctor Watson and Rufus Collins as Sherlock Holmes SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
9
FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION venture all over the world before settling in Portsmouth, England to open his own practice. During the next years, the young man divided his time between trying to be a good doctor and struggling to become a recognized author. In 1887, Doyle’s first novel was published in a popular English magazine called Beeton’s Christmas Annual, under the title A Study in Scarlet which introduced readers to the immortal Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. Despite this work’s success, Doyle personally preferred his next novel Micah Clark, which though well received, is a lesser-known work. This began a dichotomy in the author’s professional life: Doyle wrote about Sherlock Holmes, who quickly became world famous in commercially popular stories, while also crafting a number of historical novels, poems, and plays, for which Doyle expected to be recognized as a serious author but lacked the acclaim of his more popular detective novels. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE “For strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the imagination.” — Arthur Conan Doyle Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a modest Irish-Catholic family. Doyle’s mother, Mary, had a passion for books and was a master storyteller. Doyle wrote of his mother’s influence on him in his autobiography: “In my early childhood,” he reflected, “as far as I can remember anything at all, the vivid stories she would tell me stand out so clearly that they obscure the real facts of my life.” From age nine to 17, Doyle attended a Jesuit boarding school in England. He loathed the strictness surrounding his studies and rebelled at the school’s brutal system of corporal punishment. It was during those difficult years at boarding school that Doyle realized he shared his mother’s talent for storytelling. He was often found surrounded by a crowd of captivated younger students listening to the amazing stories he would make up to amuse them. When considering what he would do next following graduation, Doyle was inspired to study medicine by a lodger his mother had taken in who had trained at the University of Edinburgh. There, Doyle met his teacher Dr. Joseph Bell, the man who would eventually serve as the basis for the persona of Sherlock Holmes. A couple of years into his studies, Arthur decided to try writing a short story. An early effort, “The Mystery of Sasassa Valley,” reflected the style of Edgar Allan Poe and Bret Harte. Both this story and his story “The American Plan” were published by prestigious literary magazines. These back-to-back successes showed Doyle that a career as a writer might be possible. Doyle was in his third year of medical studies when adventure called his name. He was offered the post of ship’s surgeon on The Hope, a whaling boat about to leave for the Arctic Circle. This adventure awoke Doyle’s wandering spirit, leading to a life full of travel. When Doyle finally obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degree in 1881, he drew a sketch of himself receiving his diploma, with the caption, “Licensed to Kill.” Soon after, Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle held a series jobs in the medical field that, while personally unfulfilling, allowed him to
10
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
Doyle was also better known as a writer in the United States than in England. The managing editor of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in Philadelphia commissioned him to write a short novel, The Sign of Four, which was published in England and the United States in February of 1890 and established Sherlock Holmes’s presence on the literary scene. Despite his success, Doyle was restless. Doyle briefly moved his family to Vienna, where he failed in an attempt to specialize in ophthalmology, and then opened a practice in London that received little foot traffic. But in this down time, Doyle wrote a series of short stories about Holmes and Watson with the help of his agent, his illustrator, and The Strand Magazine. This collaboration lasted for many decades and was instrumental in making the author and the magazine world famous. In 1891, Doyle fell dangerously ill for several days and when his health improved, he concluded that his efforts to balance his medical and literary careers were foolish. He joyfully abandoned medicine and devoted himself to his writing. A year later, Doyle grew tired of his most famous creation and impulsively killed Holmes off in 1893’s “The Final Problem.” He wanted to be free from a fictional character that overshadowed what he considered his finer work. Subsequently, Doyle wrote a play about Sherlock Holmes. It was not to give Holmes new life, but to make money. The very successful American actor William Gillette read the script and asked for permission to revise it. Doyle agreed, and when the actor asked permission to alter the Holmes persona, Doyle replied: “You may marry him, murder him, or do anything you like to him.” By the time Gillette’s revisions were shared with Doyle, there was little left of the original script. The play was a huge success. When the Boer War began, a war between the British Empire and the two African Boer states over control of South Africa, Doyle tried to enlist but he was older and not in top physical condition, so he volunteered as a doctor. He had a traumatic experience in Africa where he witnessed the effects of typhoid, so when he returned to England he switched gears and he threw himself into politics for a brief time. Doyle ran for parliament, representing the Unionist Party, once in Edinburgh in 1900 and once in the Border Burghs in 1906. Although he received a respectable amount of the vote both times, he was not elected. The inspiration for Doyle’s next novel came from a prolonged stay in the Devonshire moors. As he dove deeper into crafting this new tale, he realized his story lacked a hero. Rather than inventing a new character, he realized everything he needed for this hero was in Sherlock Holmes. Doyle did not want to resurrect the great detective initially, so he wrote
the story as if it was a previously untold adventure. A year later, King Edward VII knighted Doyle for services rendered to the Crown during the Boer War, but rumors circulated that the king was such an avid Sherlock Holmes fan that he had put the author’s name on his Honors List to encourage him to write new stories. Doyle tried his hand at writing a number of plays, but his first three were total flops. Doyle’s fourth play, The Speckled Band, was a roaring success and featured none other than Sherlock Holmes. Although he wrote many books and short stories with different protagonists, he did give in to readers’ demands and wrote more short story compilations about Sherlock Holmes for the next 24 years. In the autumn of 1929, in spite of having been diagnosed with Angina Pectoris, Doyle went on one last whirlwind trip to give lectures on spiritualism, a new found passion at the end of his life, in Scandinavia, Holland, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Arthur Conan Doyle died on Monday, July 7, 1930, surrounded by his family. His last words before departing were addressed to his second wife. He whispered, “You are wonderful.”
QUESTIONS: 1.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spent the majority of his writing career torn between the commercially successful adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the more serious literature he wanted to write. Why did Doyle believe Sherlock Holmes lacked substance? How does it feel to be praised for something you do not enjoy while your passions go unrecognized?
2.
Throughout his life, Doyle failed often and openly before instinctively leaping to the next thing. How would you describe the twists and turns of his life? Why is failure a powerful teacher and an important part of life?
3.
Read an example of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s more “serious” work and one of his Sherlock Holmes stories. Compare and contrast the two in terms of both content and style.
THE CULTURAL LINEAGE OF A BRITISH DETECTIVE In 1886, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlett. In total, he wrote 60 Holmes adventures, including 56 self-contained short stories and 4 novels. All but four stories are narrated by Holmes’s friend and biographer, Dr. John Watson, while two are narrated by Sherlock Holmes himself, and two others are written in the third person. Sherlock Holmes’s popularity grew tremendously with the beginning of the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine in 1891. Readers lined up at newsstands for The Strand on publication day whenever a new Holmes story was to appear inside. In 1893, Doyle determined he would stop writing about his famous detective after a short story titled “The Final Problem.” Doyle felt the Sherlock Holmes stories were distracting him from more serious literary efforts and that killing Holmes off was the only way of getting his career back on track. “I must save my mind for better things,” he wrote to his mother, “even if it means I must bury my pocketbook with him.” Fans of Doyle’s work were horrified and pressure from readers eventually persuaded Doyle to bring Holmes back. In 1902, Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles (a story set before the events of “The Final Problem”) and revived Holmes in The Adventure of the Empty House, using holes in characters’ eyewitness accounts to make Holmes’s resurrection more plausible. The public’s desire for more stories about Sherlock Holmes led Doyle to write about the famous detective until 1928. Although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle passed away in 1930, Sherlock Holmes’s popularity has transcended time and geography. The character of Sherlock Holmes first appeared on film in 1900. From 1936-1946, the novels were developed as a series of films by Universal Pictures staring Basil Rathbone, establishing the trademark deerstalker, cape, pipe, and spyglass as a global visual icon. As of August 2018, Sherlock Holmes is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as ‘the most-portrayed movie character,’ with more than 70 actors having played the part in at least 200 films with more to be released this year. Regardless of the medium, Sherlock Holmes is typically portrayed with a very specific set of recognizable attributes: he is resourceful, quintessentially English, intelligent, learned, insightful, and relishes a challenge. In addition to novels and movies, Sherlock Holmes’s legacy lives on in many eccentric tributes from an international fandom. There are 357 Holmes Societies around the world and thousands of dedicated websites. The Sherlock Holmes Society in London is one of the many societies around the world that arranges visits to the scenes of Holmes adventures. Fans are often called “Holmesians” in the United Kingdom and “Sherlockians” in the United States. Devotees can visit a Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street in London and another in Meiringen, Switzerland next to the famous Reichenbach waterfalls, where the great detective met his demise. There is also a pub in London called “The Sherlock Holmes” with a Baker Street sitting room reconstruction open to the public.
The cover of the April 1927 edition of The Strand Magazine advertising a new Sherlock Holmes adventure inside
Despite being a fictional character, Holmes has also been the recipient of awards generally reserved for actual human beings. London streets have been renamed after him and the Royal Society of Chemistry bestowing SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
11
an honorary fellowship on Holmes for his use of forensic science and analytical chemistry in popular literature, making him the only fictional scientist thus honored. There is also a game called The Sherlockian Game (also known as the Holmesian Game) that treats Holmes and Watson as real people and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as Watson’s agent. Global participants of this game attempt to resolve anomalies and clarify details about Holmes and Watson from the canon of Holmes mysteries by combining history with aspects of the stories to construct biographies and other scholarly analysis.
QUESTIONS: 1.
When Doyle decided to kill off Sherlock Holmes, he did not anticipate the intensity of the public outcry that followed. More than 20,000 readers of The Strand Magazine cancelled their subscriptions, outraged by Holmes’ premature demise. The magazine barely survived. Readers at the time typically accepted what went on in their favorite books, then moved on. Now they were beginning to take their popular culture personally and expected their favorite works to conform to their expectations. What does the modern practice of fandom look like? How does the word “fanatical” relate to contemporary fans of works such as the Harry Potter series or stories from the Marvel Universe? What is the difference between a “die-hard fan” and a “fair-weather fan”? Are you a superfan of any stories, whether they be in print or on film or television? How do you celebrate or honor your favorite characters? How do you react when writers defy your expectations?
2.
Why are readers and audiences still interested in Holmes and Watson today? What is it about these famous characters that has allowed them to only gain popularity over time? What do you like about Sherlock Holmes?
3.
The phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” is never uttered by Holmes in the 60 stories written by Doyle. It is difficult to track the origin of this phrases’ evolution, but there are quite a few breadcrumbs leading to its popularity. William Gillette, the playwright working with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Sherlock Holmes (1899), is widely considered to have originated the phrase with the formulation, “Oh, this is elementary, my dear fellow” The phrase, “Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary” appears in P.G. Wodehouse’s 1915 novel Psmith, Journalist (not spoken by Holmes). The exact phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” is used by protagonist Tom Beresford in Agatha Christie’s 1922 novel The Secret Adversary. The phrase became familiar with the American public in part due to its use in The Rathbone-Bruce series of films from 1939 to 1946. How is the evolution of this phrase reflective of the cultural phenomenon that surrounds Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories?
THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND: THE REAL SHERLOCK HOLMES Sherlock Holmes, the famous fictional detective, was based on Dr. Joseph Bell, a renowned forensic scientist at Edinburgh University who was one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s medical school professors. Dr. Bell was 39 years old when Doyle first attended one of his lectures in 1877 and is said to have walked with a lurching rhythm that painted him as someone with great energy. His nose and chin were angular and his eyes had a shrewd twinkle. In addition to his medical brilliance, Bell was an amateur poet, a sportsman and a bird-watcher. Born in Scotland in December 1837, Joseph Bell studied at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He was a talented and highly regarded medical student who delivered a dissertation to the Royal Medical Society. Bell had an accomplished medical career and served as a personal surgeon to Queen Victoria whenever she visited Scotland, published several medical textbooks, and became president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1887. The charismatic Doctor Bell dazzled his students with demonstrations where he was able to determine a patient’s occupation and many other personal details simply by studying their appearance and mannerisms. In addition to taking Bell’s classes, Doyle was selected by Bell at the end of his second year to serve for a time as his clerk at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where he got a further look at his mentor’s celebrated deductive abilities. In many ways, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the Dr. Watson to Dr. Joseph Bell’s Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Bell intently absorbed minute details about each person with whom he interacted, from their walk, to their accent, to the style of their tattoos, to the condition of their hands. He famously concluded that one man was an alcoholic by observing that he habitually carried a flask in the inside breast pocket of his coat. He is reported to have noted that another man was a cobbler by seeing that the inside of the knee of the man’s trousers was worn in a particular way. He could also apparently tell with great reliability that someone had lied to him by observing their behavior and mannerisms. The following is an account of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s in his autobiography, Memories and Adventures, of one particular example of Bell’s observational abilities that occurred when Bell observed a patient that he had never spoken to or met before:
“Well, my man,” Bell said, after a quick glance at the patient, “you’ve served in the army.” “Aye, sir,” the patient replied. “Not long discharged?” “No, sir.” “A Highland regiment?” “Aye, sir.”
SHERLOCK’S GLOBAL LITERARY IMPACT
12
•
Sherlock Holmes, according to The New York Times, is the 3rd most read publication on the planet behind the Bible and the Dictionary.
•
Approximately 5 million Sherlock Holmes books are printed in Europe and the United States every year.
•
Sherlock Holmes is required reading in schools around the world including the United Kingdom, United States, Japan, and Russia.
•
Holmes stories have been translated into over 84 languages.
•
There are over 10,000 independent reference books, studies, and investigative publications dedicated to Sherlock Holmes.
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
“A non-com officer?” “Aye, sir.” “Stationed at Barbados?” “Aye, sir.”
Bell turned to his bewildered students. “You see, gentlemen,” he explained, “the man was a respectful man but did not remove his hat. They do not in the army, but he would have learned civilian’s ways had he been long discharged. He has an air of authority and he is obviously Scottish. As to Barbados, his complaint is elephantiasis, which is West Indian and not British, and the Scottish regiments are at present in that particular island.”
Dr. Bell once stated “In teaching the treatment of disease and accident, all careful teachers have first to show the student how to recognize accurately the case. The recognition depends in great measure on the accurate and rapid appreciation of small point in which the diseased differs from the healthy state. In fact, the student must be taught to observe. To interest him in the kind of work we teachers find it useful to show the student how much a trained use of observation can discover in ordinary matters such as the previous history, nationality and occupation of a patient.” Sherlock Holmes’s ability to draw the largest conclusions from a combination of small observations and reason was directly inspired by Dr. Bell’s skill set. Additionally, also the fictional detective’s fashion sense seems to have also been drawn from Bell, who is reported to have often worn a long coat and a deerstalker hat. A few famous photos of him in this attire exist.
Doctor Joseph Bell
QUESTIONS: 1.
Make a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the fictional Sherlock Holmes with his real-life inspiration Dr. Joseph Bell. What do these two figures have in common and in what do they differ? Consider profession, skills, appearance, and impact on those around them.
2.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle highly valued Doctor Joseph Bell’s observation, logic, deduction, and diagnostic abilities — so much so that he wrote 60 stories centered around these talents! What are skills others possess that impress you? List six behaviors, who does them, and why they are noteworthy in your eyes.
Years later, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the following letter of immense gratitude to Dr. Joseph Bell:
My dear Mr. Bell,
THE WORK OF A VICTORIAN DETECTIVE
Many thanks for your most kind and genial letter which was a very great pleasure to me. It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes, and though in the stories I have the advantage of being able to place him in all sorts of dramatic positions I do not think that his analytical work is in the least an exaggeration of some effects which I have seen you produce in the out patient ward. Round the centre of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate, I have tried to build up a man who pushed the thing as far as it would go — further occasionally — and I am so glad that the result has satisfied you, who are the critic with the most right to be severe.
•
What’s the history of the title? The word detective entered the English language in the mid-1800s, but it is ultimately derived from the Latin detegere, meaning “to uncover.” The label “detective” was not in common usage until the mid-Victorian period, coming into popularity after the detective branch of the Metropolitan Police was instituted in 1842 with eight professionals, including two “inspectors.” In 1878, the detective branch was reorganized and renamed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). By 1888, there were eight hundred officers in the CID.
I think that a fine thing might be done about a bacteriological criminal, but the only fear is lest you get beyond the average man, whose interest must be held from the first and who won’t be interested unless he thoroughly understands. Still, even so, I should think that something might be done on these lines. I should be glad, if you should find yourself with ten minutes to spare, if you would give me an idea of the case which you speak of, and indeed I should be very grateful for any ‘spotting of trade’ tips, or anything else of a Sherlock Holmes nature.
•
Who were Private Investigators? The men who worked as Private Investigators at the end of the 19th century ran the gamut from honest retired policemen looking to supplement their income to shady characters excited by the prospect of catching someone’s spouse in an act of sexual misconduct.
•
The book will come out about September, and I should much like to inscribe your name upon the fly-leaf, if the dedication will not be an intrusion. I am sure that no other name has as good a right to the place.
What were their investigation tactics? To gain information, detectives made a habit of getting to know the criminal element in London, through frequenting pubs and horse races, employing informers and even using the newspapers to find information and discover possible frauds.
•
The police or Private Investigators? When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was writing his Sherlock Holmes mysteries, private investigators not only far outnumbered the Metropolitan police but also played a more significant role in society as crime fighters. In fact, the general impression is that they, and not the official representatives of law enforcement, were the principal fortification at the time against law breaking and social, moral and political deviance.
With kindest regards and remembrances I am very cordially Yours, A. Conan Doyle (May 4th, 1892)
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
13
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES WRITING: IMMORTALIZE YOUR IDOL
ACTING: EXPLORING THE SUBTEXT
Imagine you are writing a new adventure series and your idol or mentor will inspire the character of the hero. Think of someone who deeply impresses and inspires you. Envision the mentor or role model in your life that you most aspire to emulate, a person who has changed your life for the better, the Dr. Joseph Bell to your Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the person you will have to remember to thank some day when you win a big award. Create a character sketch by answering the following questions:
The term “subtext” refers to communication that is implied but not directly stated. Throughout Act I of Sherlock’s Last Case, Doctor Watson’s lines are full of opportunity for an actor to play subtext, as the words Watson says aloud reflect the respect and friendship that Sherlock expects to hear from his long-time partner. In the early scenes of the play, he is overly positive in his praising of Holmes and their partnership. At first glance, it may appear as if everything is better than ever, but upon further examination there are some bubbling undercurrents of resentment and foreshadowing of what is to come.
•
What behaviors or attributes are the key components that make this individual so inspiring?
•
If they were a superhero, what strengths do they have that would their superpowers?
•
What is their trademark look, color, article of clothing?
•
If they had a catch phrase, what would it be?
•
What kind of challenges would this character take on?
•
In what kinds of situations would they save the day?
Use your character sketch as the basis for a short story in which the character based upon your idol takes on a challenge and emerges victorious. Feel free to doodle a little picture of them, too!
WRITING: COMPARE AND CONTRAST HOLMES PORTRAYALS Read one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock stories (short story or an excerpt from a novel) and watch a movie or TV episode that uses the famous detective as its source material, such as the BBC’s “Sherlock,” CBS’s “Elementary,” or Fox’s “House.” Compare and contrast these interpretations of Sherlock Holmes. How are they similar? How are they different? Which interpretation do you prefer and why? (see Resource list on page 16)
Examine these two excerpts from Act I, Scene 3. What does Dr. Watson say explicitly? What is implied in the subtext? How can you use your voice and physicality to communicate the subtext when delivering these lines?
WATSON: About my own fears being, in this instance, more prudent than your own. I mean, that’s never happened before; that I should have reached some kind of conclusion which was correct, before yourself. Or, as it is in this case, by means of a completely original deduction.
WATSON: But it’s really quite astounding, if it’s true. I mean, deductions are, always have been, your own special province, your specialty, one might say. I can usually recognize them after the event, but never beforehand. That is quite out of character.
ENSEMBLE ACTING: SCORPION GAME This group game is all about mystery, surprise, and secret identity. In this game, one player, the Scorpion, gently scratches other players’ palms while handshaking to “kill” them, trying to eliminate as many players as possible before their identity is discovered. 1.
Begin the game by having everyone sit in the circle with their eyes fully closed.
2.
The leader or instructor walks around the circle and silently taps one person on the head or the shoulder to designate them as the Scorpion.
3.
Once the Scorpion has been selected, everyone opens their eyes and begins walking around the space shaking hands with the other players as they pass. Everyone will shake hands normally, except the player who is the Scorpion. When the Scorpion handshakes another person, they will subtly scratch the palm of the other person’s hand with their pointer finger as they are shaking hands.
4. Once a player has been scratched, they cannot reveal through sound or expression that they know who the Scorpion is. Instead they must shake two other people’s hands and then stage a dramatic death scene before falling to the ground. 5.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes in the BBC series
14
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
For other players, the objective is to guess who the Scorpion is before they all end up dead. Players do this with a simple accusation: “Kate, are you the Murderer?” Since Kate’s not the Murderer in this game, she shakes her head no, and then the player who made the false accusation performs their own dramatic death scene to remove themselves from the game.
6. Players resume moving around the room, shaking hands until someone correctly identifies the Scorpion, or everyone has “died” except the Scorpion. 7.
It is worth playing two - three rounds, depending on time constraints. The game only gets more fun, the more you practice.
8. Variation: Players take on the roles of characters in Victorian London as they play.
COSTUME DESIGN: SHERLOCK HOLMES MAKEOVER Sherlock Holmes has an internationally identifiable look. Traditional depictions of him include a long brown overcoat, a deerstalker cap (an ear flapped traveling cap), a collared shirt, a tie, dress pants, and dress shoes. For this activity, imagine that Sherlock Holmes and Watson have come to you asking for help with their wardrobes because they are getting bored with their daily predictable choices and want you to assist in adding a bit of modern flare. Design new costumes for these detectives. Consider: •
What are the components of the uniforms worn by police officers today? What about the clothes worn by specialty police units such as those who interact with young people? How do these differ from contemporary homicide detectives?
•
What essential tools do detectives carry with them? What technology and equipment do they rely on?
•
Are there modern equivalents of the hallmark items worn by Holmes and Watson? How can you update these items?
Traditional paper doll costumes for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson
NILE HAWVER
Using this research and the traditional depiction of the characters as inspiration, create sketches for new, contemporary costumes for Holmes and Watson.
Mark Zeisler as Doctor Watson and Rufus Collins as Sherlock Holmes
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
15
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER READING AND VIEWING SHERLOCK HOLMES NOVELS BY SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
FILMS ABOUT HOLMES The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
A Study in Scarlet (1887)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
The Sign of the Four (1890)
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)
The Valley of Fear (1915)
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
SHERLOCK HOLMES SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS BY SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
The Spiderwoman (1943)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)
The Pearl of Death (1944)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
The Scarlet Claw (1944)
His Last Bow (1917)
The House of Fear (1945)
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)
The Woman in Green (1945)
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Short Stories (1928)
Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
PLAYS FEATURING HOLMES OR WATSON
Dressed to Kill (1946)
Crazy House (1943)
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Gilette (1899)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986) — animated Disney film
The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig (2012)
Sherlock Holmes (2009) — with Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock) and Jude Law (Watson)
The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence by Madeline George (2013) Miss Holmes by Christopher M. Walsh (2017)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) — sequel to the above Mr. Holmes (2015) — with Ian McKellen (Sherlock)
TV SERIES BASED ON HOLMES “Sherlock” (2010 – present) on BBC with Benedict Cumberbatch (Holmes) and Martin Freeman (Watson) “Elementary” (2012 – present) on CBS with Jonny Lee Miller (Holmes) and Lucy Liu (Watson) “House” (2004 – 2012) on Fox with Hugh Laurie (Dr. Gregory House) and Robert Sean Leonard (James Wilson)
Basil Rathbone
16
Robert Downey Jr.
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
Benedict Cumberbatch
Jonny Lee Miller
NOTES
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
17
019
8-2
2 T 01
DEN
STU
H SH E N MA ERL ICE A D N IN OC TIES RO OLL TH K’S OC ME ’S E LA T. O A HO RIN ST 3 ND USE G N CAS JU , PA OV E O LIE RT . 30 CT . 25 TM 2 AR JAN .8 .2 &1 4 4
18
SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE CURRICULUM GUIDE
ATI N
TM
EES
4 BO HU ST N T I O NG N , M TO A NA 02 V 11 EN 546 UE 06
26