Fusion brings Holmes and Watson to stage with a feminine twist

Sep. 11—Fusion is opening its season with an irreverent, darkly comic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous sleuth and sidekick with a decidedly feminist twist.

Female roommates Sherlock and Watson join forces to emerge from the pandemic fog as a deeply codependent, dysfunctional odd couple.

"Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson — Apt. #2B" opens on Thursday, Sept. 14, and runs through Sept. 24.

The play opens with Joan Watson, an American, inquiring about renting a room in London. The room is available and affordable, but there's one not-so-small problem — the apartment is shared by Sherlock Holmes, the world's greatest "deductive consultant," (and also world's worst housekeeper) who is feeling down because there seem to be no truly original cases left to solve (just the same boring old murders and robberies). Watson, who is clearly running away from something, and just as clearly doesn't want to talk about it, presents just the challenge Holmes is looking for.

"First, it's a rollicking romp from some of the Sherlock Holmes adventures," said director Laurie Thomas. "People who have read the books or seen the movies will recognize some of the characters."

Kate Hamill set her play roughly in the present, with the pandemic still looming.

Just as Watson is realizing that being Holmes' personal puzzle to solve will likely not make for a peaceful roommate situation, Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard arrives with a real case — the brutal murder of a man in a hotel room. One case leads to another, and soon Holmes and Watson are trying to get to the heart of what might be a much larger criminal enterprise.

"There's a bit of contemporary female perspective on some of these storylines," Thomas said. "They have a distinct approach to analysis and investigation. There's a sensitivity and an empathic theme that runs through the story that I think women are more attentive to with a broader perspective and understanding of people."

Thomas learned of the play from a friend at the Portland Center Stage. The play ran there last January through February.

Jen Grigg plays Watson.

"She has been through the pandemic," the actor said. "She arrives in London looking for a fresh start. She keeps saying that she's not Dr. Watson. She's coming to terms with what she went through. There's a lot of broad physical comedy; a lot of Three Stooges, slap-sticky things going on."

The play pivots on the fact that Holmes can't do it alone, Thomas added.

"It does take a community to get through the trials and tribulations of life."

Originally from the farms and fields of upstate New York, Hamill is an award-winning New York City-based actor/playwright. She is passionate about creating new feminist, female-centered classics, both in new plays and in adaptations. In 2017, the Wall Street Journal named her "Playwright of the Year."

"It's very much a comedy," Thomas said. "It's Lucy and Ethel meet Sir (Arthur) Conan Doyle."

"Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson — Apt. #2B" stars Jen Grigg, Jacqueline Reid, Tiffany Cole and Kane Distler.