Sherlock Holmes From Screen To Stage

This book investigates the development of Sherlock Holmes adaptations in British theatre since the turn of the millennium. Sherlock Holmes has become a cultural phenomenon all over again in the twenty-first century, as a result of the television series Sherlock and Elementary, and films like Mr Holmes and the Guy Ritchie franchise starring Robert Downey Jr. In the light of these new interpretations, British theatre has produced timely and topical responses to developments in the screen Sherlocks’ stories. Moreover, stage Sherlocks of the last three decades have often anticipated the knowing, metafictional tropes employed by screen adaptations. This study traces the recent history of Sherlock Holmes in the theatre, about which very little has been written for an academic readership. It argues that the world of Sherlock Holmes is conveyed in theatre by a variety of games that activate new modes of audience engagement.

Papers from the conference held at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, August 31-September 2, 2012.

Sherlock Holmes has been a beloved character from his first story, and his mystique endures to the modern age in print, on screen - but he has had a long life in the theatre as well. Where did it begin? What are the themes, stories, and characterizations that make his stage presence unique and just as enduring? Follow his trail on the stage as author Alexandra Kitty curates his fascinating theatrical world throughout the decades: from unlikely Off-Broadway musicals to lauded slapstick comedies, to more traditional and gripping portrayals of his iconic stories and new incarnations. How does the world’s greatest detective fare in the theatre? The results are always shocking, but never disappointing.

'Sherlock Holmes on Screen' includes all Holmes' 300+ film appearances. This includes films from the silent era through the Basil Rathbone movies of the '40s. It also contains a guide to the original Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Reproductions of the classic Sherlock Holmes stage plays, The Speckled Band and Sherlock Holmes, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette. These plays offer a fascinating insight into an early and often forgotten chapter of the Sherlock Holmes legacy.

Arguably the most famous and recognized detective in history, Sherlock Holmes is considered by many to be the first pop icon of the modern age. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective has stood as a unique figure for more than a century with his reliance on logical rigor, his analytic precision, and his disregard of social mores. A true classic, the Sherlock Holmes character continues to entertain twenty-first-century audiences on the page, stage, and screen. In The Philosophy of Sherlock Holmes, a team of leading scholars use the beloved character as a window into the quandaries of existence, from questions of reality to the search for knowledge. The essays explore the sleuth's role in revealing some of the world's most fundamental philosophical issues, discussing subjects such as the nature of deception, the lessons enemies can teach us, Holmes's own potential for criminality, and the detective's unique but effective style of inductive reasoning. Emphasizing the philosophical debates raised by generations of devoted fans, this intriguing volume will be of interest to philosophers and Holmes enthusiasts alike.

Questing was Sherlock Holmes’s business. He famously adopted the latest forensic techniques, channelled the Victorian passion for enquiry, kept abreast of the key scientific breakthroughs of his age, and conducted his investigations in an enigmatic and stylised manner. And the brains behind it all was, of course, the great Arthur Conan Doyle. In this deep dive into the contemporary world of Holmes and Conan Doyle, biographer Andrew Lycett explores all that encompasses the world of the great detective – tracing the infamous character’s own interests, personality and mythologised biography alongside that of his creator’s. From the Victorian crazes for detection and séance, to contemporary developments in science and psychology, Lycett weaves together everything that inspired Conan Doyle in creating the world’s most famous detective and one of fiction's most enduring, enigmatic and recognisable characters.