Elementary? Sure! ‘Baskerville’ is gloriously goofy enjoyable in Madison

You don’t must be Sherlock Holmes to infer what occurs if you sautée a moorish hound with a touch of Mel Brooks, a pinch of Monty Python and further seasoning by a grasp comedic chef, served by a nimble thespian waitstaff on the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.

Put merely: You’re in for a deliciously entertaining two hours with Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, on the menu in Madison by Aug. 2, 2026.

Directed by STNJ’s Artistic Director, Brian B. Crowe, this manufacturing has all the things patrons have come to count on from comedies at this venerable venue: First-rate performers, high-speed hijinks, and revolutionary units, lighting and sound.

Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig has enjoyable with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 basic, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Set principally in gloomy Devonshire, the story pits supersleuth Sherlock Holmes in opposition to a supernatural beast. There’s been a homicide on the moors, and a household curse threatens the inheritance — and life — of Henry Baskerville from Texas (a Canadian within the novel).

The investigation will get sophisticated when the swaggering Texan falls for the woman subsequent door, the comely Beryl Stapleton, whose butterfly-chasing brother is a suspect. Holmes thinks nothing of dispatching his devoted sidekick Watson to behave as Henry’s bodyguard on the Baskerville property; for his troubles, Watson almost will get dispatched. By whom is a part of the thriller.

Yet the main points are nearly secondary. The execution — pardon the expression— is the marvel to behold.

Five actors play so many components, at such breakneck pace, that this system doesn’t even listing all of the characters. Actor One, Actor Two and Actress One should suffice.

More than 250 folks have portrayed Sherlock Holmes on stage and display over the centuries. Christian Pedersen, who bought his skilled begin with STNJ’s touring firm 5 years in the past, will get the honors right here, giving the enduring detective a refreshing spin of boyish exuberance and cockiness hinting of the early Pythons’ Michael Palin.

Brandon Jones makes his STNJ debut as Dr. John Watson — “John-boy” to the Texan. Dutiful and fairly intelligent, his Watson is ever able to take one for the crew. Why? That’s a thriller unto itself.

As Actor Two, David Foubert (A Midwinter Night’s Dream, Henry VIII, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged]) wears so many hats that at one level, Holmes/Pedersen truly holds one for him to sprint beneath, alternating characters as if competing within the lightning spherical of an improv contest. His Henry will get some Texas-sized laughs.

Nicholas Wilder is Actor One. Among different Baskerville roles, he performs a hunchbacked caretaker whose mannerisms wink at Ygor in Young Frankenstein. If I needed to guess, he’s someplace contained in the Hound costume, too.

Last however removed from least is Janiah-Camille François, the only real lady within the solid. Among different roles, she performs the stunning Beryl and the creepy Mrs. Barrymore, who falls someplace between Morticia Addams and Frau Blücher as minder of the property. François should change costumes (onstage!) and dialects on a dime. Her timing and contact are spot-on; this Yale drama grad is a expertise to observe.

I hope all of them are paid by the position — or no less than get compensated for the remedy they certainly will want after almost a month of such intense shape-shifting.

Behind-the-scene stars embody vocal coach Vivian Majkowski, who presumably helped the solid type out all of the British and Slavic accents; costume designer Austin Blake Conlee; Tony Galaska, whose lighting course creates a Gothic environment; and sound designer Germán Martínez, whose crashing thunder, creaky doorways and the like are important parts in a manufacturing puzzle that’s something however elementary — it doesn’t matter what Sherlock says.

Silly bits with critters, image frames and perambulators are merely marvelous. Taken collectively, it’s a tasty recipe to chase the summer time doldrums. Don’t fear concerning the twisty plot. This STNJ manufacturing of Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery isn’t actually a whodunnit. It’s a wowdunnit!

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey presents Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Aug. 2, 2026. Tickets: $45-$85; free tickets for youths. At the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, Drew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison.