CATCO's 'Prima Donna' revolves around female character in Sherlock Holmes tales

The game’s afoot at CATCO, first to stage a new Sherlock Holmes play.

“Prima Donna,” by Columbus writer Chris Leyva, will open Saturday in the Riffe Center.

“It’s the only time Sherlock Holmes meets his match — and it’s a woman,” said Leyva, who has honed and polished his script from its development last year in CATCO’s New Works Festival and with recent feedback while sitting in at CATCO rehearsals.

Leyva adapted “Prima Donna” from “A Scandal in Bohemia,” the first of 56 short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle about the British private detective and his sidekick, Dr. Watson.

“To Sherlock, Irene Adler was always ‘the woman,’ because she completely revises his thinking about women,” he said.

Doyle’s 1891 story revolves around Adler, a European opera singer.

"What I tried to unravel is not the story’s plot but this woman. What made her so grand? What defines her and gives her such a mythic quality? Irene Adler has become this mythical creature to Sherlock Holmes fans because she’s very much a blank canvas,” Leyva said.

When Adler threatens to expose her old affair with a Bohemian prince, the prince —fearful of scandal interfering with his imminent royal marriage — hires Holmes to investigate and stop her.

“I wanted to deconstruct the story to find out who Irene Adler really is, rather than the image she had to put forth to become successful or the image created about her by Holmes and Watson,” Leyva said.

Exploring the human side of Adler

As he researched and wrote “Prima Donna” over five years, Leyva probed deeper into human duality.

“Irene Adler is at war with herself, always trying to figure how what role she can play. ... Who am I in public versus in private? Who knows me for this part of my personality? I like to discover what questions in my life are present in the story, and how I can pull them out,” Leyva said.

BalletMet new season: BalletMet new season to include 'Nutcracker,' 'Dracula' and 'Dorothy and the Prince of Oz'

Acacia Duncan plays Adler, whose backstory is explored in the first act.

“Neither a villain nor a heroine, Irene is a consummate performer who likes to be in control of any situation,” Duncan said.

“A very modern woman, she chafes at her era’s rules for women, but likes breaking those rules and knows how to play the game,” Duncan said.

Moving from Paris, Barcelona and Berlin to Warsaw and London between 1883 and 1890, Adler has complicated relationships with prince Wilhelm Von Ormstein (Luke Bovenizer) and lawyer Godfrey Norton (Brian C. Gray).

She also has a female confidant, Pamela Proctor (Summit J. Starr), a new character.

“Highly intelligent and self-aware, Irene uses her charms to get what she wants. ... The challenge is to reveal her multiple sides, not just the side Irene shows to the world,” Duncan said.

Broadway in Columbus: Broadway in Columbus 2022-23 season will include 5 shows new to Columbus

The veteran Columbus actress has originated roles in 34 new plays.

“I love working on new plays, especially when the playwright is there in the room making adjustments,” Duncan said.

“It’s nice knowing that our work as CATCO actors in rehearsal is helping to inform this work,” she said.

The conceit of his play, Leyva said, is that 1890s theatergoers have read "A Scandal in Bohemia," published by Holmes’ sidekick Watson, and want to hear Adler’s perspective.

“I don’t think she saw herself as being in a Sherlock Holmes mystery,” Leyva said.

“The game of cat-and-mouse between Irene and Sherlock, in opera houses, dressing rooms and streets, is really her just living her life and Holmes in disguise watching her,” he said.

Holmes and Adler — yin and yang

Leyva makes Adler and Holmes to some extent mirrors of each other.

“A character of intrigue, Irene outsmarts Holmes. I gave her many of his powers of deduction and made her hyper-observant,” Leyva said.

“What makes her different from Holmes is that she doesn’t switch off her emotions. Irene allows herself to fall in love, and that sparks the conflict,” he said.

Jeff Horst plays Holmes, with Nigel D. Salvador as Watson.

“Everybody loves a good mystery .... and Holmes has such cleverness and wit,” Horst said.

“There are wonderful moments when he transforms to get the information... but Leyva turns the story on its ear to present it from a woman’s point of view... That’s a great dish to serve up,” Horst said.

Horst, who’s wanted to play Holmes for years, said he admires how Leyva and director Laura Gordon collaborated with CATCO’s six-member cast to sharpen Leyva’s “wonderfully crafted” play.

Short North Stage: Theater: 'Rock of Ages,' 'Slave Play' part of the new season lineup at Short North Stage

“As the script evolved in rehearsals, it’s become a nuanced, seamless story about duality, and very modern as well,” Horst said.

As Holmes pursues Adler, his view of her evolves, too.

“At first, trying to solve the case, he looks at her as an adversary, but ultimately, he sees her as an equal,” Horst said.

“Early on, he says women are never to be trusted. By the end, when he learns she’s still one step ahead of him, Holmes has nothing but respect and admiration for her,” Horst said.

Creating a likable character

Making Adler admirable and powerful was a key goal of Leyva, who’s written 20 full-length plays and five youth-oriented one-acts, including CATCO is Kids premieres of “Cowgirls Don’t Ride Zebras” (2017) and “The Throne of Oz” (2018).

“The main characters of my plays are women... because I don’t see enough women roles,” Leyva said.

Although the first draft leaned toward romantic drama, “Prima Donna” is a romantic comedy.

“The more I explored it, the more I allowed some silliness and absurdities, pushing the story toward comedy. As the play became lighter, the more it felt truer to Irene’s story,” Leyva said.

Duncan agreed.

“At its heart, this is a fresh new take with a lighter feel. People familiar with Sherlock Holmes may be surprised by its authenticity,” she said, “while it also expands the possibilities of that world.”

mgrossberg1@gmail.com

@mgrossberg1

At a glance

CATCO will present “Prima Donna” at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays and 7:30 p.m. Thursdays from April 29 through May 15 at the Riffe Center’s Studio One Theatre, 77 S. High St. Through May 1, masks and proof of vaccination or negative PCR COVID test are required within 72 hours of attending a production for patrons 12 and older; mask/vaccine mandates will end May 3. Tickets cost $45, $20 (student rush) or pay-what-you-want for Friday’s preview. (614-469-0939, www.cbusarts.com)

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: CATCO to present 'Prima Donna' at Riffe Center in Columbus