Sherlock Holmes at Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden, Norfolk Broads

The Pantaloons theatre company is bringing its action-packed and delightfully inventive production of Sherlock Holmes to Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden, South Walsham in the Norfolk Broads,  on Friday, July 5 at 7pm.

Tickets are adult £9 and child £5 in advance from Fairhaven Garden, t. 01603 270449, and £12 /£8 on the door (under 5 free). There will be an interval for refreshments but do bring a picnic and something comfortable to sit on. Gates open at 6.30pm.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories of master detective Holmes and his amiable sidekick Dr Watson are enduringly popular and this new adaptation promises a mash-up of the canon’s best bits with a few surprises in store along the way.

The Pantaloons take well-loved classics and giving them a contemporary twist, making them accessible for new audiences and showing seasoned fans something that they had not seen in them before. Past productions include The Canterbury Tales, The Grimm Fairy Tales, A Christmas Carol and many of Shakespeare’s plays.

“We are tackling Sherlock Holmes,” says producer Mark Hayward, “because we like to take on things that are ridiculously ambitious to stage and find ingenious ways to convey these to an audience. With Holmes we have a high-speed boat ride down a foggy Thames, a moonlit chase across rooftops, and daring escapes and fights all with a cast of just four actors.”

The Pantaloons pride themselves on creating interactive shows that can vary wildly from performance to performance – and Sherlock Holmes will do so to a greater extent than ever before.

“The outcome of the play might be very different at each performance,” says Hayward. “In fact, depending on suggestions from the audience or even what the weather does, the show will change a lot. It’s a very exciting concept but we don’t want to spoil anything by revealing too much here!”

In true Pantaloons tradition the show will also include plenty of original live music and even some puppetry – involving a certain famous hound – but at all times the production will remain faithful to the spirit of the source material.

“The real strength of the Holmes stories, aside from the adventure elements and clever mysteries, is the relationship between Holmes and Watson and brilliant dialogue that still sparkles straight off the page,” says Hayward. “It makes adapting the stories for stage a real joy.”