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MARION — In a new show at the Marion Art Center, three actors collectively play more than 30 roles.
They bounce in and out of the stage switching between different characters, costumes and at times, accents.
Another two actors clad in unitards and mime makeup emulate an additional handful of varied roles — babies, animals, prop setters.
Anchoring it all are the play’s sole unchanging characters, the literary British sleuths of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
“Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” spoofs Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” Written by playwright Ken Ludwig, the play took the original story and “ratcheted up the funny on it,” according to director Kate Fishman.
The show is “a very complicated play,” where “everything moves lightning quick,” Fishman said.
While the pair of fabled detectives pursue mystery, a trio of characters — their roles titled actors one, two and three — weave in and out of scenes.
Allie Goodman, Kate Martin and Elizabeth Rapoza play the 30-odd parts.
“The harder part was remembering who am I now?” Rapoza said. “And what am I supposed to be putting on for clothes? And which side am I coming in?”
The various characters require different costumes, handled by costumier Bethany Lamoureux — and different accents too. The multi-role actors speak in twangs of Cockney, Swedish, Spanish and Scottish to name a few.
“They curse my name and throw their clothes off and throw other clothes on and then curse my name again and then they get out on to the stage,” Kate Fishman said.
Kate Fishman’s husband Scott portrays Sherlock Holmes and Matt Lynds plays Dr. Watson.
“It’s just this rotation of characters that I think people will really have fun with,” Scott Fishman said.
The unitarded, white-faced “stage ninjas” performed by Kiah Allaire and Lucas Cabral, meanwhile, act as stage crew and fill out remaining roles.
“There’s a real interaction between them, the audience, the actors and everything else,” Kate Fishman said.
The character of Dr. Watson acts as a narrator at certain points during “Baskerville,” ensuring viewers are “following where we are, where we’re going,” according to Lynds.
“I’m almost a bridge between what’s going on up here and the audience,” Lynds said.
The play also utilizes a “minimalist set,” according to Kate Fishman.
“The actors bring you the story,” Kate Fishman said.
The show further draws upon sound effects and a projector that displays different backgrounds inside the black box theater, operated by lighting and sound technician Steve McManus.
Kate Fishman said the cast and crew’s “hard work has come together” to make the play “look good and sound good to the audience.”
“I guarantee you they’re going to be roaring,” she said.
“Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery” opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9 at the Marion Art Center. Subsequent performances are Aug. 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 for members and $23 for nonmembers. For more, visit marionartcenter.org.
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