How close did Sherlock Holmes come to a horrible death at the hands of the villainous Moriarty? Were the Reichenbach Falls to see the final end of the great detective? Well., not in this production they weren't and Mr Holmes himself made jolly sure that his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, didn't get the chance to write him out of history!

The Miracle Theatre Company were appearing at the Tuckwell Amphitheatre in their witty farce "The Death of Sherlock Holmes." A very ingeniously constructed set and some period props represented a variety of locations from 221b Baker Street, via the Horsham Spiritualist Association premises to a cross Channel ferry. A willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience as dusk fell over the magical little theatre made us feel we'd travelled half of Europe and been entertained by a cast of hundreds! In fact a mere five multi-talented actors, aided by a startling profusion of wigs and costumes, were responsible for the whole performance.

Star of the show, without a doubt, was Benjamin Dyson as Dr Watson.

From his natty bowler to his sandy moustache, this actor was a 'natural' in the part. Wesley Griffith played a variety of roles from an unctuous missionary to the dreaded Moriarty and was good in all of them.

The second half was very well paced, had some great jokes and a very funny seance scene in which Holmes' head and upper body materialise from a table while Watson masquerades as a heavily veiled medium. The developing slapstick style had the audience laughing uncontrollably.

This is a very versatile and hardworking small touring company which richly deserves its Arts Council funding. Come and entertain us again next year, Miracle Theatre Company!

Avril Hemingfield