Sherlock Book Reviews - Don't Go Into The Cellar Mr Holmes

Sherlock Holmes Society of London

Covid-19 and lockdown have prevented “Don’t Go Into the Cellar!” from touring with the well-regarded Holmesian and other productions that are their speciality, but as the company’s actor and writer Jonathan Goodwin says, the pandemic did open the door to the online performance and a new fan base, not least for his recent interpretation of Jeremy Brett as Holmes. The five scripts in his new book Don’t Go Into the Cellar, Mr Holmes! Sherlock Holmes Stories Re-imagined for the Stage include an impressive reworking of “The Mazarin Stone”, a fantasy that introduces elements from other Conan Doyle stories, and adaptations of three stories by Tony Reynolds. I hope to see them performed before too long!

Don’t Go Into the Cellar, Mr Holmes! is available from this site and also available from the Cellar Theatre Shop which also includes recordings of many of the performances - and also from:

Amazon USA    Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)

This book contains five scripts, three of which I owe a great debt of gratitude to Tony Reynolds as they are adaptations of stories taken from his wonderful book of Sherlock Holmes stories ‘The Lost Stories of Sherlock Holmes’ – The Adventure Of The Medium, The Giant Rat of Sumatra and The Adventure of The Amazonian Explorer.     

As for the others, “Holmes Alone” is a light-hearted romp, that borrows elements and characters from several other Conan Doyle tales. “The Mazarin Malediction” is my attempt to embellish that oft-maligned story, “The Mazarin Stone”. Almost always it’s this story in particular that is singled out for harsh criticism. Yet I have always enjoyed the tale, and the others in the collection entitled “The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes”. “Malediction” is my homage to ACD’s original, written and performed with great affection and enjoyment.

To paraphrase Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I have wrought my simple plan if I brought one hour of glee to the Sherlock fan, and the Doyle devotee.

Author:      Jonathan Goodwin

Pages:        130

ISBN:          9781787058958

Jonathan was the winner of the Dracula Society Award 2021 - previous winners include Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Gatiss.