Rob Ashford to Direct New Production of SHERLOCK HOLMES

Producer Antonio Marion has announced that Tony and Olivier Award-winning director, Rob Ashford, is set to direct a brand-new production of Sherlock Holmes, a stage epic by British writing team Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, with Akram Khan joining as choreographer. The new play will be developed in London before West End and Broadway bows.

Staged as a mystery within a mystery, the case presented to Holmes forces him to confront his murky past. But is the unravelling of his childhood just a dangerous diversion? Sherlock Holmes is an original tale which will offer a new and deeply theatrical exploration of the mind of the famous detective, while remaining faithful to the mysterious world created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Ashford commented, "When we identified that the setting of our production wasn't necessarily a place, but perhaps an emotion, with characters driven by their souls and desires, I realized we had a project that demanded being brought to life on the stage. Wagstaff and Abel have created a new, sweeping Sherlock Holmes with modern versions of the classic characters fighting hidden demons in a visceral, emotional, sensual thrill ride that could derail at any moment"

Marion stated, "Rob Ashford & Akram Khan are two of our industry's premier creative forces, with a keen eye on bringing this story to life utilizing the inherent devices of the theater all while modernizing our production for a new audience in a new generation. They will take our production to new heights, bringing audiences a theatrical experience unlike anything we've seen on the stage."

Khan commented, "Ever since I was a teenager growing up in London, I've felt a sense of familiarity and often connected with the struggle and bond to each other that Holmes & Watson inhabit. Their complex and dynamic relationship is what makes great theater. It's the adventure of a lifetime to work with Rob and these literary legends on a new production which will bring a new generation of audiences to the world of Holmes."

The characters and stories of Sherlock Holmes have been loved by audiences around the world for more than a hundred years, having first been introduced in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1887 novel A Study in Scarlet. Conan Doyle went on to feature Sherlock Holmes in three more novels (including The Hound of the Baskervilles) and in 56 short stories. The famous detective made his first appearance on Broadway in 1899.

More details, including casting, the creative team and theater, will be announced shortly.

BIOGRAPHIES

Rob Ashford (Director) is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award winning director and choreographer. Broadway theatre credits include Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Frozen, Evita, How To Succeed, Promises, Promises, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek, John Water's Cry Baby, Curtains and The Wedding Singer. London Theatre credits include The Entertainer, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter's Tale, Harlequinade all for The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, the Olivier Award winning productions of Anna Christie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Parade for The Donmar Warehouse, Macbeth at MIF and Park Ave Armory, Guys and Dolls, Evita, and Frozen. Rob directed and choreographed "Peter Pan Live!" and "The Sound of Music Live!" for NBC both receiving DGA Award nominations. Rob has directed and choreographed at Chicago Lyric Opera, Houston Grand Opera, English National Opera and La Scala. He choreographed and staged the 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2009 Academy Awards winning the Emmy for Best Choreography for his work on Baz Luhrmann's 2009 Academy Awards production number featuring Hugh Jackman and Beyoncé. Rob has staged the Tony Awards for eight years, and has also staged tributes at the Kennedy Center Honors for Barbra Streisand, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jerry Herman, Barbara Cook, Tom Hanks, Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep where he was on The Artist Committee. Films include choreography for Death On The Nile, Murder On The Orient Express, Disney's Cinderella, Ted 2, A Million Ways To Die In The West, and Beyond The Sea.

Akram Khan (Movement Director) is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In the last 20 years he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as Outwitting the Devil, XENOS, Until the Lions, Kaash, iTMOi (in the mind of igor), DESH, Vertical Road, Gnosis and zero degrees. As an instinctive and natural collaborator, Khan's choreography is the embodiment of shared exploration across multiple disciplines and cultures. His previous collaborators include the National Ballet of China, actress Juliette Binoche, ballerina Sylvie Guillem, choreographers/dancers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Israel Galvaìn, singer Kylie Minogue and indie rock band Florence and the Machine, visual artists Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Tim Yip, writer Hanif Kureishi and composers Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost. Khan's work is recognised as being profoundly moving, in which his intelligently crafted storytelling is effortlessly intimate and epic. Described by the Financial Times as an artist "who speaks tremendously of tremendous things", a highlight of his career was the creation of a section of the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony that was received with unanimous acclaim. As a choreographer, Khan has developed a close collaboration with English National Ballet and its Artistic Director Tamara Rojo. He created the short piece Dust, part of the Lest We Forget programme, which led to an invitation to create his own critically acclaimed version of the iconic romantic ballet Giselle. In recent years, Khan has moved into television, specifically documentaries. He has created three documentaries with Swan Films for Channel 4, the Sky Arts documentary series Why Do We Dance, and an episode of the Netflix series MOVE. Khan has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career including two Laurence Olivier Awards, the Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award), the prestigious ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) Distinguished Artist Award, the Fred and Adele Astaire Award, the Herald Archangel Award at the Edinburgh International Festival, the South Bank Sky Arts Award and nine Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. Khan was awarded an MBE for services to dance in 2005. This year he was announced as the new Chancellor of De Montfort University, and he is also an Honorary Graduate of University of London as well as Roehampton and De Montfort Universities, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban. Khan is an Associate Artist of Sadler's Wells and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London as well as Curve.

Duncan Abel (Co-Playwright) co-adapted Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, currently on a UK tour, and Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train, which transferred to the West End following a successful UK tour. His radio play, When I Lost You, co-written with Rachel Wagstaff, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in (2013). Also with Wagstaff, he co-wrote Isambard Kingdom Brunel for Sing London. Duncan Abel's short fiction has appeared in numerous literary anthologies, most recently Comma Press (2019). He is currently under commission to several independent UK theatre producers.

Rachel Wagstaff (Co-Playwright) wrote the book for multi award-winning musical Flowers For Mrs Harris (Chichester Festival Theatre/Sheffield Theatres). Her adaptation of Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong opened in the West End at the Comedy Theatre. A new production was later toured extensively by the Original Theatre Company and an award-winning online performance was released in lockdown. Rachel adapted Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd (Salisbury Playhouse/UK tour). An Indian version was produced at NCPA in Mumbai. With Duncan Abel, she adapted the current UK tour of The Da Vinci Code and The Girl on the Train for a hit UK tour and West End transfer. Other theatre credits include Only the Brave (Wales Millennium Centre); That Girl (Soho Theatre); Moonshadow (Princess Theatre, Melbourne); The Question (Sala Beckett Institution); Full Time (Y Touring); and The Soldier (Edinburgh Festival/RADA; revived in 2019 with Mesh Theatre Company at Salisbury Playhouse/UK Tour). For the radio, Rachel adapted Sebastian Faulks' The Girl at the Lion d'Orand, with Duncan Abel, co-wrote When I Lost You, an Afternoon Play for Radio Four.

Antonio Marion (Producer) is a Tony Award nominated & Emmy Award-winning Producer. Broadway theater credits include Betrayal (2019 revival starring Tom Hiddleston), Groundhog Day, Big Fish, Ghost, Evita (2012 revival starring Ricky Martin) and MJ The Musical (Marketing Consultant). Film & TV credits include Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical, The Next Big Thing: NY, Recursion. Additional theater credits include the West End revival of The Sunshine Boys starring Richard Griffiths & Danny DeVito, I Am Harvey Milk at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall starring Andrew Lippa & Kristin Chenoweth and White Noise at Chicago's Royal George Theatre with producer Whoopi Goldberg. He currently serves as the Executive Producer for TodayTix Group's TodayTix Presents, an original production arm that produces live entertainment showcasing the best of Broadway for the company's global audience.