With such a clashing of cultures in Edinburgh at this time of year it is always a delight to find some attention paid to a great native of the city. In this case it is a fresh adaptation of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s mysteries.
In this tale, university dropout Sherlock Holmes travels to Edinburgh to pay a visit to his friend John Watson. Like all trips to the capital, it doesn’t go to plan and they get caught up in a murder that seems insidiously simple in its resolution. The chivalrous trio of Holmes, Watson , and with a permissible blurring of fact and fiction, Conan Doyle go on a guest to put the wrongs to right.
The game is, guite literally, afoot, as this is a promenading play, following the dashing trio along the Water of Leith and through the narrow twisting streets of Dean Village. Along the way we pay witness to the humble Holmes’ great mind at work and the adolescent bickering of Watson and Doyle as they attempt to solve the crime.
The conclusion is hardly important to this production. The solution seems as inevitable to the audience as it is to the calculating Holmes, but it is the casual stroll through a part of Edinburgh that festival goers rarely see that provides the greatest spectacle in the performance.
Ultimately, Murder in Edinburgh is a successful blend of exercise and entertainment that mysteriously ended in a strategic downpour – perhaps there is more mystery to be had in Edinburgh?
4/5
Simon Patrick Biggs
