The Speckled Band

The Speckled Band
An Adventure of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
June 13-30, 2019
Charity Randall Theater, Stephen Foster Memorial, Oakland
Pittsburgh Premiere
Directed by Andrew Paul
Starring David Whalen, James FitzGerald & Sam Tsoutsouvas

“I was awakened shortly after midnight by a scream. I ran into the passage. As I reached her door, I heard a sound like low music, then the key turn in the lock. She rushed out in her nightdress, her face convulsed with terror. She screamed out the words ‘speckled’ and ‘band’ and fell into my arms dead.”

- Act One, The Speckled Band

The curtain rises on the large, gloomy, oak-lined hall of a dilapidated manor in Stoke Moran, Surrey. A coroner’s inquest is about to commence.  Enid Stoner, dressed in black and heavily veiled, is crouched on a sofa, her face buried in the cushions, sobbing over the death of her sister, Violet. Her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Rylott, advises Enid to “stamp down” her emotions and assures the grieving girl of his love.

Dr. John Watson, a friend of the family since his military days in India, arrives on the scene. Concerned for Enid’s safety, he tells her she must seek the help of his singular friend, Sherlock Holmes.

The Speckled Band was first published in the Strand Magazine in 1892 and later reprinted in the short-story collection, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. A locked-room puzzle with horrific overtones, the tale was considered by Doyle and many of his readers to be his best effort. Doyle’s ingenious and spine-tingling stage adaptation receives its belated Pittsburgh premiere in a boldly atmospheric production, starring David Whalen and James FitzGerald as Holmes and Watson, with Sam Tsoutsouvas as the mysterious Dr. Grimesby Rylott.

$20 tickets for persons age 25 and under available at the door one hour before the show. Must show ID with proof of age at the time of purchase.

A family pack is also available for 2 adults and 2 youth under age 18 for $99. When you go in to purchase your tickets, just choose, "Family pack".

“Sherlock Holmes came to life again tonight in a fashion evidently delightful to the gallery. Conan Doyle responded to frantic calls with a bow.”

- New York Times (on the play’s London premiere)

 “If you have not read this particular story in the series relating to the famous detective, you will enjoy the mystery of the play the more; but, in any case, the tale has been so well adapted for stage use, that if one wishes to be thrilled rather than edified at the theatre, The Speckled Band will serve the purpose very well indeed.”

- Munsey’s Magazine

 “Intense and gripping. The suspense is well built up.”

- The Globe