Park Square Theatre Presents New Play SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURES OF THE SUICIDE CLUB, Now thru 7/14

The beguiling thriller SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SUICIDE CLUB, a new script by Jeffrey Hatcher, takes the Park Square stage tonight for a week of previews before opening on June 14. A fast-paced mash-up of the unforgettable characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyleand The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson, this script has its roots in Park Square's last wildly popular homage to the great sleuth, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily (2010). "David Ira Goldstein (Artistic Director of the Arizona Theatre Company, former Artistic Director of Actor's Theatre of Saint Paul) and Jeff Hatcher were in the audience at that show," explains Park Square Artistic Director Richard Cook. "Jeff boasted he could write an even better Sherlock and David Ira said 'then I'll commission it.'" David Mann directs and Steve Hendrickson returns once again as the absurdly smart Holmes, this time in a thriller with multiple murders in which Holmes is either target or suspect. Three performances have been added to meet the demand for tickets.

The show is set behind the impressive façade of a windowless house, in which some of Europe's most powerful men gather to play a game. The game is Murder, and this is The Suicide Club. But the club has a new member: Sherlock Holmes. Does Holmes want to die? Is he the killer? Or is some other game afoot? Holmes and Watson find themselves one step behind as the corpses of Europe's power players start turning up all over London.

"We're all having a blast creating an exciting show that will be filled with magic, mystery, and Jeffrey Hatcher's crackling dialogue," says Mann. "Our production will use an abstract steel set and video projections - to move from ornate interiors to the London streets in an instant - but also to give the audience more information. While this show is firmly set in the Victorian period, I'm intrigued by the possibilities afforded by technology and editing to draw you in to Holmes' rapid-fire thinking and give you information (if you can keep up!). This is a stage play, of course, so I want to use the video in abstract and theatrical ways to engage the audience's imagination," he explains. "One image I'm toying with, for example, is when we hear about a character being pushed down a flight of stairs. With video it's tempting to see the whole action happen, but I think it's more powerful to see just the hand on the back of the shoulder and hear the sound." I'm thrilled to be working with some of the very best actors and designers in the Twin Cities. Everyone is at the top of their game as we unscramble all the puzzles that lie beneath the surface of our story.

Combining Conan Doyle's unforgettable characters with Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Suicide Club has never been done before, but is a "terrific jumping-off point," says playwright Jeffrey Hatcher. "Stevenson wrote "The Suicide Club" in 1878, almost ten years before Arthur Conan Doyle's first Holmes and Watson novel," he explains, "but there's an eerie prescience in Stevenson's story, especially as it features an amateur detective named Prince Florizel who solves cases with the aid of his friend Colonel Geraldine. There are wonderful things in The Suicide Club - characters, plot twists, dialogue - that are perfect re-imagined as a Sherlock Holmes story."

Mann has great talent on tap for this production: Steve Hendrickson, who delighted Park Square audiences with his portrayals of the sleuth in 2008 and 2010, is reunited with Bob Davis as Dr. Watson, who was appreciated for smart rather than bumbling portrayal of the famous sidekick in 2008. Allen Hamilton, (The Last Seder, Agatha Christie's Spiders' Web), plays Sherlock's mysterious and equally smart brother Mycroft Holmes. ChariTy Jones (The Sisters Rosensweig) plays the deliciously evil secretary of the Suicide Club and James Cada, who has twice played Holmes' nemesis Professor Moriarty on Park Square's stage, returns in this adventure as Inspector Micklewhite. Bruce Bohne (The Odyssey, Othello), Nathan Christopher, Kathryn Wind (The Diary of Anne Frank), Bryan Porter, and Karen Wiese-Thompson (Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Dead Man's Cell Phone) round out the stellar ensemble.

Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Suicide Club's production team includes Katie Willer (Assistant Director), Andrea M.Gross (Costume Designer),Amy Bouthilette (Properties Designer), Michael Hoover (Scenic Designer), Michael P. Kittel (Lighting Designer),Todd Edwards (Projection Designer) andKatharine Horowitz (Sound Designer). Jamie J. Kranz is stage manager. The play is sponsored by JP Morgan Chase.

Performance Schedule: Previews begin tonight, June 7 and run through June 15. Friday, June 16 is Opening Night, and the run continues through July 14. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday performances, which begin at 2 p.m. All performances are in the company's intimate 340-seat theater in Saint Paul's historic Hamm Building, 20 W. Seventh Place.

Ticket prices: Previews: $25. Regular Run: $38 & $58. Discounts are available for seniors, those under age 30, and groups. Tickets are on sale at the Park Square box office, 20 W. Seventh Place, or by phone: 651.291.7005, (12 noon-5 p.m. Monday through Friday), or online at www.parksquaretheatre.org.

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