adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Staged Radio Drama, Radio Broadcast, Fully-Staged Production, or Virtual Theatre, THE FINAL PROBLEM is a very flexible piece.
What if Dr. Watson was a woman and Sherlock Holmes wasn’t always right?
On the run from Moriarty, Holmes is unsure of his deductive powers and Watson is unsure of her friendship with him. This rendition of the last story in “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” casts Watson as a woman and re-envisions Holmes as carrying a torch for his best friend, even after her recent marriage. It’s partly a story of flight and self-doubt and partly a story about the endurance of friendship and platonic love. Moriarty presents a challenge that Holmes and Watson aren’t entirely sure they can meet. “You must stand clear, Mr. Holmes, or be smashed.”– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Final Problem”
RADIO HOUR is a co-production between Salt Lake City’s Plan-B Theatre Company and the University of Utah’s Public Radio station KUER’s Radio West.
The play can be done solely as a radio broadcast, or it can be done LIVE onstage with a radio show set up with actors on mics and SFX and MUSIC provided live, or both.
Artwork by Aaron Asano Swenson, courtesy of Plan-B Theatre. Used by permission.
PLAY DETAILS
- 2m 1f
- Moriarty
- Sherlock Holmes
- Dr. Watson
- COSTUMES: optional street clothes (carefully chosen, of course) or fully costumed for live performance
- SETTING: Should either be a ‘radio station’ setting, or use virtual projection scenery for a full production or Virtual Theatre
- SFX essential
- ORDER #3386
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
REVIEW
‘The Game is Afoot’ Plan-B’s Latest Radio Play
by Linda Hunt, Salt Lake Magazine
Sherlock Holmes and the Final Problem is the 17th episode in Plan-B Theatre’s radio presentations and the first to be aired with a live theater audience in nearly a decade.
But is this Sherlock’s final episode? You’ll have to attend one of Friday’s World Premier performances or tune into KUER 90.1 to find out!
To the plot. Sherlock Holmes (voiced by KUER’s RadioWest host Doug Fabrizio) is driven to seek refuge from his longtime nemesis Dr. Moriarty (played by Jay Perry). On the run with Dr. Watson (played by Isabell Reeder) the duo travel by train from London to the Channel crossing, destined for Paris. Or so it seems. Holmes, a master of disguise and misdirection, eludes Moriarty and their destination from Paris to Brussels, then to Strasbourg and into Switzerland.
Amid the escape, Sherlock Holmes avows his fondness — then love — for Dr. Watson. Their interchanges are gentle, his affirming and hers resistant, but finally conciliatory.
From their Alpine hideaway in the Swiss Alps, Dr. Watson is called back to the hotel to treat an ailing British woman, who refuses care from a “foreign doctor.” Holmes is left alone to fend for himself against the cunning, murderous Dr. Moriarty who lurks nearby.
The live audience will see backdrops move from one destination to another, illustrating international chase. Meanwhile, for listeners gathered around the radio, clever Foley work fills in the visual gaps and brings the action to life.
The British accents of the three presenters are finely tuned and pitch-perfect. As a member of the radio generation, I can say that this live radio broadcast is true to its nostalgic form—including the pauses for station identification. It brought back memories of listening to the Lux Radio Theater around the family RCA as I sat back in my theater seat and closed my eyes, I was transported.
PERUSAL MATERIALS:
COMING SOON
The PERUSAL SCRIPT of Sherlock Holmes and the Final Problem contains the first half of the play.
-
VIEW other plays in the RADIO HOUR Series HERE
- VIEW our list of other plays available as Staged Radio Plays HERE
- LISTEN to the original broadcasts from KUER’s Radio West Productions HERE (This will take you off the LBT site)
PRODUCTION/REHEARSAL MATERIALS:
(Any PDF purchased will be emailed to your email address — if you need to provide that to us (not the one on your PayPal account?), email us. CDs will be mailed to a snail mail address. Do not purchase rehearsal materials or pay for royalties until you have performance clearance.)
- Script in PDF format — Order #3386a : $30.00 (from which you will be authorized to copy for your production)
- First Performance Amateur/Educational Royalty — Order #3386d : $60
- Second Performance Amateur/Educational Royalty — Order #3386e : $50
- Professional Royalties will be quoted upon application
- EMAIL us for rights and information. Be sure to give us anticipated performance dates and the address of your group and, if different, your theatre. Please also include a contact name and phone number.
PRODUCTIONS
- Premiered by Plan-B Theatre Company and KUER’s Radio West program, 2023
- photos of the recording of the radio show at KUER (All photos Sharah Meservy. Used by permission of Plan-B Theatre Company)
BILLING CREDITS
The following is how the credits should read in all programs, posters, fliers, handbills and other promotional advertising for the show:
Sherlock Holmes and the Final Problem
Episode 17 of the RADIO HOUR Series
by
Matthew Ivan Bennett
NOTE: The names of the Playwright(s), Composer, Lyricist, and Bookwriter shall be equal in size, type, coloring, boldness, and prominence. No billing shall appear in type larger or more prominent than the billing to the Authors except for the title of the play. (In a press release all type, will of course, be the same size.)
ALSO:
THIS NOTICE MUST APPEAR IN ALL PROGRAMS, ON ALL POSTERS AND PUBLICITY MATERIALS AND INTERNET ADVERTISING/WEBPAGES FOR THE PLAY:
“SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE FINAL PROBLEM is presented through special arrangement with Premiére Theatrical Licensing on behalf of Leicester Bay Theatricals. All authorized materials are also supplied by LBT, www.leicesterbaytheatricals.com”
From the catalog of
