IT Productions (formerly Ichthys Theatre) plunged the audience into a world of mystery during its opening night performance of “Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars” at Saint Mary’s Parish Hall on Friday, June 6, 2025.
While Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes and his arch nemesis, Moriarty, fall to their deaths over the Reichenbach Falls in the The Final Problem back in 1893, the author eventually revived Holmes in the The Hound of Baskevilles after fans of the stories refused to accept the alternative.
The Baker Street Irregulars were children who were often featured in Doyle’s original stories, including A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four and The Adventure of the Crooked Man. They were often hired by the detective to gather information.
The play, which was adapted by Eric Coble from graphic novels by Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood, follows the story of these six young street urchins as they aim to not only prove that Sherlock isn’t dead and to solve two mysteries; the kidnapping of the Mayor’s daughter, and the disappearance of a former thug-turned amateur detective.
“They’re sort of a gang of street kids that Holmes would periodically hire to do different things for him because, of course, people don’t see kids let alone street kids. They had learned different things from him, but also in him recognizing them, he had given them some faith in themselves,” said Lorna Stratton, Founder of IT Productions and the show’s director. “So, they band together to prove that Holmes really isn’t dead and then, of course, there’s these two mysteries they think go hand-in-hand. …They originally think it’s Moriarty that is behind all of this but they eventually unmask the original gang and it’s not who they think it is. It’s really just a fun story because it’s the Irregulars solving things and kind of taking Dr. Watson and Inspector Lestrade along for the ride.”
Stratton said that when it came down to choosing the play, she wanted an ensemble show that could accommodate a large cast with multiple generations.
“We very much wanted an ensemble show because it’s not one of those stories where the plot kind rests on the shoulder of one or two leads, right? They’re great because everyone gets to feel like they’re part of the show,” she said. “They’re also fun to do because they often require several generations so you have younger people, older people and sometimes even seniors, and they all get the chance to kind of learn from each other. And in this show, we actually had two set up parent and child and so that was a neat bonding experience for them too.”
With a cast of around 15 people, Stratton said that she and the production crew had to thoughtfully utilize the space in the church when designing the set. Although there is an existing stage in the venue, because there wasn’t any backstage room or overhead lighting, Stratton decided to bring the play down to the ground level.
Although Stratton said that the decision proved to have some minor complications, from the audience’s point of view, between the costumes and the set itself, the cast and crew had no issues bringing the story to life.
The young actors playing the Irregulars (Luke Hart as Wiggins, Nyx Kopke as Pockets, Lachlan Bull as Chen, James Wilson as Tiny, Foster Rideout as Ash, and Ainsley Perras Diaz as Eliza Mayhew) shared an undeniable chemistry. Their performances and interactions, their character portrayals and their well-timed lines helped drive the story forward, quickly capturing the audience’s attention and keeping it.
Heather MacPherson, Lyn Gronlund, and Richard Zimmerman, three audience members who were present for opening night, said they truly enjoyed the show.
“Oh, I loved it, I thought it was excellent. I can’t figure out, for the life of me, how they remember all their lines,” said Gronlund with a chuckle. “I just really loved seeing the passion in all their faces, I thought it was really wonderful.”
“I thought those young actors were just amazing,” added Zimmerman.”To take a bunch of kids and to see what they were able to do up there… wow, it was just really well done.”
MacPherson said she also enjoyed seeing the youth getting to express themselves creatively.
“I just enjoyed all of it, it moved really fast and there were no lulls or anything like that so that was nice,” she said. “The costumes were beautiful too, I just really appreciate all the work that went into it.”
After the show wrapped up its final performance on Sunday, Stratton later said that while the show was a project, she and everyone else involved genuinely enjoyed bringing the show to life.
“It was a big, big project, and it was made bigger by not having the facilities that we would have really liked, but this is the kind of thing, where you do it and you learn, it ends up being a good product and you’ve touched any number of people in a big way… that’s what’s important,” she said. “And that’s the value of doing theatre, and the arts in general, right? It’s such a critical part of our society, and it needs to be more a part of our society. Unfortunately, arts and culture and even heritage have to sometimes explain their right to exist, and not only is that tiresome, but it shouldn’t have to be like that, because it’s actually what we need more of.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
