Dragon Review – Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Moriarty – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 19 Nov, 2025
Updated on: 20 Nov, 2025

A close bond: Ben Owora as Dr Watson and Mark Knightley as Sherlock Holmes Beth Armstrong-Harris

By Alice Fowler

In dangerous times, all of us needs a hero – and who better to lift spirits on a cold November night, than the master detective, Sherlock Holmes, himself? In hopeful frame of mind, I headed to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre for Blackeyed Theatre’s world premiere production of ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Moriarty’.

Blackeyed Theatre, based at South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell, has over twenty years’ experience as a producing company, with two other Holmes mysteries, both adapted by Nick Lane, under its belt.

What next? The master detective (Mark Knightley) plots his move. Beth Armstrong-Harris

For ‘The Hunt for Moriarty’, writer and director Lane has focussed on author Arthur Conan Doyle’s less well-known short stories, combining several of these into one production. As a writer of short stories myself – and knowing each has its own distinct plot – I was keen to see how this might work.

At the play’s start, our detective hero is listless, with not enough to do. Handily, a junior clerk at the Woolwich Arsenal is found murdered on train tracks outside Aldgate. On his body are stolen government papers, with three of the most essential pages missing.

Foreign spy Irene Adler (Pippa Caddick) finds a clue Beth Armstrong-Harris

Sherlock, dashingly played by Mark Knightley, springs to life and takes on the case. From here, events twist and turn. There are leaks in government, foreign spies, poisoned notes, deaths and beatings, blackmail, stolen letters, sword fights and so on.

Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft Holmes, is implicated in the stealing of the papers and faces the death penalty. Without him, the whole British Empire may collapse. Behind it all is Holmes arch enemy, Professor Moriarty, the evil, anarchic mastermind who appears on stage well into Act Two. Before long, as we take off to Switzerland for one last brutal showdown, society as we know it is at threat.

A message in invisible ink: Sherlock Holmes (Mark Knightley) and housekeeper Mrs Mason (Pippa Caddick). Beth Armstrong-Harris

With a large array of characters, and a plot that gallops in so many different directions, it can be hard to keep track of what’s going on. (A ‘Case File’ at the back of the programme helpfully unpicks the different threads).

This is a long play, and a strong cast do well to corral the action. The bond between Holmes/ Knightley and Ben Owora as Dr Watson works well. Pippa Caddick, the only female member of the cast, convinces in four different roles, from Holmes’ clever housekeeper, Mrs Hudson, to exotic spy Irene Adler. Gavin Molloy (Moriarty), Eliot Giuralarocca (Mycroft) and Robbie Capaldi juggle a variety of characters – fourteen between them, at my count. Victorian society of course was patriarchal, and this is reflected on stage, with many scenes in which assorted male characters stand and converse.

The final reckoning: Sherlock and Gavin Molloy as Professor Moriarty. Beth Armstrong-Harris

Designer Victoria Spearing’s set is simple, with brick-built walls, windows and a number of doors, some of which seem to open unintentionally. Amid the twists and turns are some wonderful lines: “The worst kind of boast, Watson, is one that is couched in humility”, for example.

Sherlock Holmes fans – of which there seemed many in the opening night audience – will doubtless be delighted by this newly concocted mystery; your reviewer, perhaps a little less so.

Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Moriarty continues at the Yvonne Arnaud until Saturday, November 22. See www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk