Mystery of the Valkyrie at Brisbane’s QPAC playhouse

REVIEW: Queensland’s premier thespian breathes new life into uber Detective Sherlock Holmes, the character getting a kick from cocaine along the way.

The Mystery of the Valkyrie is on in the Playhouse until Sunday.

All night I waited for someone to say something that I could reply to with “No sh-t Sherlock.” Maybe it’s not in your lexicon, but just to be clear it means someone is stating the bleeding obvious.

I don’t know, maybe director and playwright Michael Futcher could tweak the show and slip it into the mouth of, say, Dr Watson, sidekick and conscience to Sherlock Holmes, the greatest Detective that ever lived. Fictionally that is. You’re welcome Michael.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a bit of fun writing a review because Futcher and his brilliant cast certainly had a lot of fun on stage in The Mystery of the Valkyrie which is on until Sunday in the Playhouse at QPAC. We had fun too although I must warn you that it runs for two and three quarter hours. With an interval.

Anthony Gooley as Doctor Watson and Eugene Gilfedder as Sherlock Holmes in The Mystery of the Valkyrie

For me this is usually unacceptable but on this occasion I let it slide because there was never a dull moment in this show from Woodward Productions in association with Powerarts.

Alex Woodward is a producer to watch. I’m thinking of calling him an impresario soon.

If the name is familiar it should be. His mum is ABC weather presenter Jenny Woodward, an icon in her own right, who was there on opening night. Alex produced her hit show Weathering Well. He first came to my attention as producer of those raunchy A Very Naughty Christmas shows at Brisbane Powerhouse. Now, after Covid and flood cancellations, his latest show is finally on the stage and it is masterful.

This is West End quality theatre for a wide audience. It deserves to be a hit and to travel or even to be made into a film.

The acting, the stagecraft, the writing ... this is top drawer stuff and I’m a little in awe of the local talent that brought all this together. But kudos first to writer and director Michael Futcher who is a master of dealing with classic texts and adapting them for the stage. In this instance he has written a standalone Sherlock Holmes mystery using his extensive knowledge of Arthur Conan Doyle’s oeuvre and referencing all the necessary tropes to create an authentic work that Sherlock’s creator would approve of I’m sure.

The story begins in London in 1891 and follows the story of Sherlock and Watson trying to save the world from the dreaded Professor Moriarty, nemesis of Holmes, who has created a deadly pathogen that he will use to wield his evil power. As you can guess from the title there are valkyries involved and there’s a bit of Wagner in the show too which is terrific. In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin’s hall Valhalla.

But who to play Sherlock, a character who has been played by so many great actors from Basil Rathbone to Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch, to mention just a few. Look up the list of names and it will blow you away.

Then add Eugene Gilfedder because he is now Sherlock Holmes to my mind. The role was originally to be played by Hugh Parker who is fabulous but was unavailable for the rescheduled run. In stepped Gilfedder who is really our leading thespian and he manages to nail all the subtleties and peculiarities of Sherlock Holmes, the emotional aloofness, the drug addiction, the penchant for playing the violin badly ... all the Sherlock Holmes traits are there and the audio visual effects getting inside his mind when he is figuring something out are spectacular.

Anthony Gooley is wonderful as Dr Watson and his comic timing is superb. It’s hard to be both serious and funny but this play manages it. Bryan Probets is classic as Holmes’ nemesis Professor Moriarty. Probets is a genius character actor. Moriarty has a penchant for fascism and a loathing of foreigners and he also has political aspirations. Not surprising at all.

Kimi Tsukakoshi is great as Irene Adler the opera singer who may or may not be as innocent as she seems and Helen Cassidy is brilliant as Inspector Macdonald. Is she really Scottish or does she just do an incredible Scottish accent? Hoots mon.

Darcy Brown, Jason McGovern, Danny Brown, Rowan Chapman and Sara McIntosh round out this superb cast.Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes is confronted in The Mystery of the Valkyrie

They have their work cut out for them on a stage that often moves at lightning speed calling for incredible choreography.

It’s very much in the spirit of the original Sherlock Holmes stories but there’s also a bit of John Buchan about it. Think The Thirty-Nine Steps and Greenmantle. All that spy stuff. Love it.

What else can I say except this ...shave 15 minutes off it and you have the perfect show. Somebody else said to me that it was brilliant but a bit too long. This is the point where I could have said ... “No sh-it Sherlock.”

But I didn’t. Damn

qpac.com.au