Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Luke Barton, Joseph Derrington, Stephanie Rutherford, Christopher Glover, Ru Hamilton, Zach Lee.

The parallels between our modern world and that of the dying days of the Victorian Era are not really so different for all the talk of enlightened sensibilities, of understanding the way we treat others and the hope of better interaction. Yet still the undercurrent of violence, of greed, and murder dominates our society with a stunning regularity, a world shrouded in fog, of questions, of a fractured system that sees half the country fearful of ‘the other’, of quick judgement and hanging on to a belief that we somehow have a right to deny another man or woman to believe they can be welcome in our country.

It is against the back-drop of such Victorian attitudes, that we see our place in Time, rival without the depth of character we should have attained after over 100 years of discourse, violence on the street, in the homes, of murder is still an unfathomable beast we cannot control, and one that even the creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle might have struggled to understand without the aid of technology.

It is to Sherlock Holmes that we might look to understand the human condition, the plays, the art, the divinity of film, literature and television have all played their part in keeping this particular human subject firmly in our minds when we think of solving the unsolvable. It is to the stage that we look for answers, and in Nick Lane’s adaptation of Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four, answers perhaps leave the fog and step out into the clear light.

It is of course by no means an accident or fortune of timing that sees Luke Barton take on such a demanding and stimulating role, the nature of the man has been evident from the early days of his career, the absorption of knowledge has been widely noticed, and in portraying Sherlock Holmes at one of the earliest points of introduction to the British public’s imagination, the dedicated actor fulfils the promise shown with attention-grabbing significance.

A character of fiction is arguably a dilemma in waiting, the thought of how best to approach someone steeped in the myth of another’s perception and national psyche is strewn with cliche and borrowed analogies, to know that you have to approach it from a constantly different angle whilst retaining the essence, the truism of the person loved by millions, that is the key to the actor’s ultimate form of expression. It is an expression of method that is delightfully captured by Mr. Barton in the role of the consulting detective, of reaching into the book’s narrative and seeing the almost human automaton, the unromantic hero emerge; in the time when the knowledge of the man was at its most sketchy and ultimately intriguing, Luke Barton brings another facet of enjoyment to a role inhabited by the very best.

It is with enlightened praise and congratulations to the entire cast and creative team behind it, that this particular adaption of The Sign of Four by Nick Lane works with precise polish, a play that could have been beset with huge responsibility to the past, given a dramatic pulse in the present day.

Sherlock Holmes: The Sign Of Four is a incredible portrayal of belief, one that strikes at the memory of past productions, and gently, and with humility, sets its self apart from the rest. A play that is clued up on how to keep an audience on its toes.

Ian D. Hall