The Speckled Band (play)

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The Speckled Band
Written bySir Arthur Conan Doyle
CharactersSherlock Holmes
Dr. Watson
Date premieredJune 4, 1910 (1910-06-04)[1]
Place premieredAdelphi Theatre
London, England
Original languageEnglish
GenreDrama
SettingLondon, England

The Speckled Band is a 1910 play in three acts[2] by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, based on his own 1892 short story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".[1]

Background[edit]

In 1909, Conan Doyle had leased the Adelphi Theatre at his own expense for a production of a boxing drama[1] entitled The House of Temperley which was an adaptation of his novel Rodney Stone.[2] While the play was initially a success, the death of King Edward VII caused West End theatres to close for a month in mourning[1] The closing spelled the demise of the play.[1] To recoup his loses and do something with an empty theatre he had leased, Conan Doyle decided to stage a new play.[1] Keeping in mind that William Gillette had achieved great success with his play Sherlock Holmes, which was based on an earlier Conan Doyle script,[3] Conan Doyle wrote his own Sherlock Holmes play in a week.[1]

"I shut myself up and devoted my whole mind to making a sensational Sherlock Holmes drama. I wrote it in a week and called it The Speckled Band after the short story of that name. I do not think I exaggerate if I say that within a fortnight of the one play shutting down I had a company working upon the rehearsals of a second one, which had been written in the interval. It was a considerable success."[4]

Conan Doyle made some alterations to the names of his characters, with Roylott becoming Rylott, and Julia Stoner becoming Violet Stoner.[5]

Casting[edit]

Conan Doyle hired an actor with a great deal of experience as Sherlock Holmes; H. A. Saintsbury had toured the Gillette play[6] and was on the verge of his 1,000th performance in the role.[1] Lyn Harding was cast to play Dr. Rylott and also direct the play, a decision Conan Doyle quickly came to regret.[1] Over the course of many rehearsals, Harding slowly transformed the character into a more idiosyncratic character which infuriated Conan Doyle.[1] Harding desired for Rylott to be more central to the story whereas Conan Doyle wanted less of his presence.[2] J. M. Barrie was invited to view the rehearsals and provide an opinion as he was friends with both Harding and Conan Doyle.[1] Harding's interpretation carried the day with Barrie saying "Let Harding have his own way."[1]

Production[edit]

The play premiered on 4 June 1910.[7] The play was an immediate success and Harding's performance was adored by critics.[1] Proven wrong, Conan Doyle sent Harding a letter of congratulations.[1] Over time, Conan Doyle came to appreciate Harding's performance.

"Lyn Harding, as the half-epileptic and wholly formidable Doctor Grimesby Rylott, was most masterful, while Saintsbury as Sherlock Holmes was also very good. Before the end of the run, I had cleared off all that I had lost upon the other play, and I had created a permanent property of some value. It became a stock piece and is even now touring the country."[4]

The snake used in performances was less appreciated.

"We had a fine rock boa to play the title-rôle, a snake which was the pride of my heart, so one can imagine my disgust when I saw that one critic ended his disparaging review by the words, 'The crisis of the play was produced by the appearance of a palpably artificial serpent.' I was inclined to offer him a goodly sum if he would undertake to go to bed with it. The real fault of the play was that in trying to give Holmes a worthy antagonist I overdid it and produced a more interesting personality in the villain. The terrible ending was also against it."[4]

The Speckled Band ran for 169 performances at the Adelphi Theatre[1] before enjoying a successful tour in England and the continent.[1]

Autumn of 1910 brought the production to Boston, Massachusetts[8] and later New York City, New York with Harding continuing in as Rylott but Holmes recast with Charles Millward taking the role.[9]

Cast[edit]

Revivals[edit]

In 1914, the Chicago, Illinois production cast H. Cooper Cliffe in the role of Holmes with Harding continuing as Rylott.[11] There was a London revival in 1921[9] with H. A. Saintsbury returning to the role of Holmes.[9]

Film adaptation[edit]

The play was adapted to film in 1931 as The Speckled Band with Lyn Harding repeating his role as Dr. Grimesby Rylott and starring Raymond Massey as Sherlock Holmes.[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Boström 2018, pp. 147–148.
  2. ^ a b c Bunson 1997, pp. 246–247.
  3. ^ Boström 2018, p. 102.
  4. ^ a b c Starrett 1993, pp. 145–146.
  5. ^ Barnes 2002, p. 196.
  6. ^ Boström 2018, p. 115.
  7. ^ Redmond 2009, p. 114.
  8. ^ DeWaal 1974, p. 366.
  9. ^ a b c Redmond 2009, p. 221.
  10. ^ a b c d Eyles 1986, p. 130.
  11. ^ DeWaal 1974, p. 367.
  12. ^ Bunson 1997, p. 247.

Sources[edit]

  • Barnes, Alan (2002). Sherlock Holmes on Screen. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-04-8.
  • Boström, Mattias (2018). From Holmes to Sherlock. Mysterious Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-2789-1.
  • Bunson, Matthew (1997). Encyclopedia Sherlockiana. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-02-861679-0.
  • DeWaal, Ronald Burt (1974). The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes. Bramhall House. p. 367. ISBN 0-517-217597.
  • Eyles, Allen (1986). Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-015620-1.
  • Redmond, Christopher (2009). Sherlock Holmes Handbook: Second Edition. Dundurn Press. ISBN 9781459718982.
  • Starrett, Vincent (1993). The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Otto Penzler Books. ISBN 1-883402-05-0.
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