221B
Baker Street, reimagined.
A new play by Ren Cleveland
Inspired by the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Directed by Lorelei Lemon
Creative team: Ren Cleveland and Zoe Barham
We're excited to say we're on the final leg of financial production for 221B. Big thank you's for all the support that's got us to this exciting stage. Production costs include: paying actors and designers, purchasing props, costumes, and scenic elements. A donation of any kind is deeply appreciated, as is sharing our campaign page with friends. We at Baker Street thank you sincerely for supporting our theatrical endeavors, and for helping us bring 221B to life for the triangle community.
Summary...
A 2019 Manbites Dog Grant recipient, 221B is a fiercely female-driven reimagining of the Sherlock Holmes classics. Inspired by the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this contemporary adaptation rips the roof off the iconic Baker Street residences and puts the world’s greatest consulting detective face-to-face with perhaps her most dangerous mystery to date - her own humanity. Join us as Sherlock and Watson navigate murder, marriage, and the infamous criminal mastermind, Professor Moriarty. 221B seeks to be a conversational catalyst for themes regarding gender-equality via an entertaining expedition through Holmes and Watson’s contemporary London.
Note from the Playwright...
In response to the most common question we’ve received regarding the show - how did 221B come about? - I’d like to take this space to give a bit of background on how the play was written.
The seed for 221B was planted deep in the roots of my childhood when a tiny girl with messy hair and a strange affinity for the macabre fell in love with the tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s enigmatic detective.
Fast forward to my adulthood, when I found myself directing an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes and cast the title role as female. When I’d bump into folks and they’d ask what I was up to, their responses began to form a pattern.
“A female Sherlock. What a concept?”
My, “Yeah.” soon evolved into, “Wait. Not yeah. A female Sherlock shouldn’t actually be a radical concept at all, because quite frankly there is nothing about Sherlock that constitutes the need to be male.”
(The same could be said about a whole slew of other roles… but I digress! Save those for the next project.)
That notion was the spark that, ten insomnia-spiked drafts later, would become 221B.
When pen first hit paper, I set out with two goals.
1. By reframing the iconic roles of Sherlock and Watson as women, I wanted to challenge the societal constraints of gender roles. To turn up the volume, 221B places Sherlock and Watson in modern day to highlight the rather unsettling truth - that much of the opposition women faced in Victorian London still exists in society today.
2. I wanted to showcase the characters as they were so brilliantly set forth by Doyle - as human beings - a matter that too often gets lost in translations that jump to frame the characters as archetypes. Sherlock’s, Watson’s, Mrs. Hudson’s, and Mycroft’s ability to thrive in the imaginations of fans through the decades is directly attributed to the fact that Doyle wrote them to be unapologetically human. To quote the script, “With all the broken pieces and eccentricities such a title entails.” We love them because we can relate to them.
At its core, 221B was created for anyone and everyone who’s ever been told they can’t do something simply because of who they are, indiscriminate of gender.
The hitch between Sherlock and conversations regarding gender roles seemed a perfect match for a detective who’s built their entire legacy off of not taking anything at face value. Sherlock stands for the underdogs, the unconventionals, the misunderstoods.
You can’t do something simply because of who you are.
Seems a rather ridiculous statement when you look at the words in a line, right? I like to think Miss Sherlock Holmes would take a look at the statement above, crack that ole I-know-something-you-don’t-know grin with her pipe in the corner of her mouth, and gladly accept the challenge that summarizes the driving force behind 221B.
Prove ‘em wrong.
