"Holmes/Poirot" at Park Square Theatre

A year and a half after cancelling the remaining shows in their 2022-2023 season, Park Square Theatre is back! After experiencing financial difficulties, they took a season off to reassess and regroup, and are coming back with a four-show season on their main stage in the Historic Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul. First up is one of those cancelled shows - a world premiere new mystery combining two of literature's favorite detectives. Holmes/Poirot was inspired by a dream that Steve Hendrickson (who has played Holmes multiple times) had, and told to prolific local playwright Jeffrey Hatcher. The result is not one but two thrilling and well-plotted mysteries, brought to life by a fantastic nine-person cast. Park Square has a long history of presenting summer mysteries, and while it is now finally, thankfully, fall, Holmes/Poirot fits well in that popular tradition. Playing Thursdays through Sundays until November 3.

Watson and Holmes (Bob Davis and Steve Hendrickson)
(photo by Rich Ryan)

Holmes/Poirot is really two one-act plays, although they are related in ways I will not spoil. Act I features Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, and Act II features Dame Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. In the first mystery, Sherlock and trusted companion John Watson are called to Paris to help a recent acquaintance of the latter who was recently told she's related to the Russian royal family, which puts her in danger. She was right about the danger, and Holmes has a murder mystery to solve. Which he of course does, but not without complications. In the second mystery, Poirot and his Watson, named Hastings, are also called to Paris, this time by a man who fears he's in danger. He's not wrong, and again Poirot has a murder mystery on his hands. Both detectives apply their supreme skills in observation and deduction to solve the similar murders, in a way that's delightfully surprising.

Poirot and Hastings (Bob Davis and Steve Hendrickson)
(photo by Rich Ryan)

David Ira Goldstein returns to Minnesota to direct the piece, and does well with the Hendrickson/Hatcher witty and clever script. The courtroom scenes and imagining different versions of the murders are particularly well-staged. The two leads swap places in the two acts. Steve Hendrickson embodies the beloved detective Holmes in the first act while Bob Davis plays his sidekick John Watson, and narrates the story. After intermission, Bob takes over the lead with a delicious performance as the eclectic Belgian detective, while Steve plays Hastings with a sweet innocence and provides narration. They're surrounded by an ensemble that is truly an embarrassment of riches, to the point where you wish all of them had more to do, they're so much fun to watch in their multiple roles. Stacia Rice makes a welcome return to the stage as the would-be Russian princess and an elderly countess who's not as helpless as she seems. Norah Long always makes everything better, as she doubly does here in two very different roles - a genealogist and a mourning wife and mother. New favorite David Andrew Macdonald has too little to do, but he does get multiple death scenes, which is great fun. Anna Beth Baker, Olivia Osol, and Daniel Petzold all play different and interesting characters tangential to the murder. Last but not least, Warren C. Bowles is charming as the French inspector investigating both murders (although it was unclear to me if he was the same character or different).

the cast of Holmes/Poirot (photo by Rich Ryan)

Both stories take place on a clean-lined neutral-toned art deco apartment set with depth. The artwork on the wall is switched out for different locations (which are also noted in projections), and a curtain is drawn to hide or reveal a dead body. Actors are dressed in smart period clothing and wigs (scenic design by Erik Paulson, costume design by Matthew J. LeFebvre).

I'm so happy to see theater back on 7th Place in St. Paul; Park Square's absence left a hole in the #TCTheater landscape. I'm looking forward to this four-show season (especially the regional premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Between Riverside and Crazy, another one of the shows cancelled in 2023), and many more to come. Holmes/Poirot is an auspicious start to this new beginning, a smart, funny, brilliantly acted murder mystery. Make that two smart, funny, brilliantly acted murder mysteries!