If you’re a casual Sherlock Holmes fan, you may be surprised to learn how rarely Professor Moriarty, the nemesis of the world’s greatest detective, factors into Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories.
Though the criminal mastermind has cut quite a figure in adaptations and pastiches of Sherlock Holmes—including Andrew Scott’s memorable portrayal in the BBC show “Sherlock”—“The Adventure of the Final Problem” is the only Conan Doyle story where Moriarty makes a physical appearance.
Should you desire a bit more Moriarty in your life, Virginia Rep’s new play “Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Adventure” might be just the ticket. Staged at Hanover Tavern, “Moriarty” is a silly romp through the world of Sherlock Holmes that begins with an investigation into the King of Bohemia’s stolen letters a la “A Scandal in Bohemia.” The play quickly turns into an international mystery filled with spies and intrigue.
“This is taking all of the Sherlock Holmes stories, synthesizing them and setting them in this really heightened, almost ‘39 Steps’ level of farcical reality,” says Joel White, who plays Moriarty and 10 other characters in the show. “It’s using the broad outlines of the plot points of certain Arthur Conan Doyle stories.”
In portraying a serious heavy in a farce, White says he’s leaning into more of the “moustache twirling” nature of his character.
“Moriarty is arguably fiction’s first supervillain,” says White. “The challenge has been making it clear that this guy is a serious threat to Holmes while also not abandoning the fast-paced, completely tonally different setting of this world.”
Last holiday season, White and “Moriarty” director Irene Kuykendall starred in Virginia Rep’s staging of “Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery,” another Holmes adaptation by the same playwright. During the run of the previous show, White says that some die-hard Holmes fans who dressed in Victorian- and Edwardian-era garb were surprised to learn that the play was a comedy.
Kuykendall, who won a Best Supporting Performance Award for her work in “Baskerville” from the Richmond Theatre Community Circle (full disclosure: Griset is a former RTCC member), says that she’s the type of Sherlock Holmes fan to listen to an audiobook of the original stories when she’s struggling to sleep at night.
“We have this cultural love affair with Sherlock Holmes and I’m absolutely a part of it,” she says, adding that she appreciates how different incarnations of the detective play up different elements of the character.
“In the Robert Downey Jr. films, we get to see the messiness of Holmes,” she explains, referencing 2009’s “Sherlock Holmes” and 2011’s “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” “He comes across as this high-minded character, but we learn that he’s a very strong boxer, that he can dabble in drugs for fun because he needs to keep his brain actively busy.”
Asked how “Moriarty” compares to “Baskerville,” Kuykendall says the new show has a similar comedic approach but feels more menacing.
“There’s a bit more darkness in this one,” she says. “Moriarty is a little more sinister as an evil villain and the tone of the entire piece is darker.”
Kuykendall says “Moriarty” has a little bit of everything.
“It has danger, it has excitement, it has mystery,” she says. “It has quirky, silly, fun bits, it has farcical elements that are absolutely ridiculous.”
Audiences, White says, should be prepared to watch five comedic actors strut their stuff as they portray more than 40 different characters.
“If you want to spend a couple of hours laughing your pants off, watching five people expend every ounce of energy in their bodies and just throw it all out there onstage, leaving no comedy stone unturned, this is the show to see,” White says.
Virginia Rep’s “Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Adventure” plays through Jan. 26, 2025, at Hanover Tavern, 13181 Hanover Courthouse Road, 23069. For more information, visit va-rep.org or call (804) 282-2620.
