Mark Twain was right: Truth is stranger than fiction. In the case of Mysterious Circumstances, sumptuously presented now by Road Less Traveled Productions, an unsolved true crime (or was it?) might be solved by the iconic fictional sleuth who ‘died’ 113 years earlier.

Complicated? Not really. OK, maybe a little. Mysterious Circumstances is the true story Richard Lancelyn Green, a noted literary scholar and collector of Sherlockiana. Yes, he liked all things Sherlock Holmes and was particularly keen on some personal papers said to belong to Holmes’ reluctant creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In real life, Green died in 2004. Was it murder, or an elaborately staged suicide that may have been inspired by a Holmes plot? Therein lies the mystery…well, at least one mystery.

Mysterious Circumstances was written by Michael Mitnick who was inspired by a New Yorker article written by David Grann following Green’s death. Director John Hurley, the production team, and the cast created a tight, fast moving, and clever treatment where the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” was never spoke.

It really is a fun show with some clever stage movement and lots of layered and well-nuanced details. There are lots of little throwbacks to Holmes and the Conan Doyle oeuvre. I do love a show where all the actors – not just the ensemble – take on multiple roles. It must make the backstage operation well-orchestrated havoc, and it certainly keeps the audience on their proverbial toes, but that’s the fun of it all. The story also time hops from 1894 to 2004, using two neon lit portals (remember The Time Tunnel from 1960s TV?) to mentally escort you hither and yon.

The Cast

Ben Michael Moran is both Green and Holmes. Both characters are focused and intense in their unique ways and Moran makes this work splendidly. As Holmes, he captures all the Basil Rathbone quirks from the movies and as Green he’s a charming geek when talking all things Holmes and awkward and uncomfortable in social situations.  Peter Palmisano is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a properly brogued police officer. I loved his change in posture: proud, tall, and strong as Conan Doyle and stoop-shouldered and unkempt as the cop. David Marciniak’s two main roles are as Watson and one of Green’s personal admirers. It’s a great morph from buttoned-up gentleman to slightly skeevy sales guy on the road and on the make. Greg Howze is a Green admirer in a bar scene and then a competitive American Holmes collector. I loved Nicholas Lama’s first entrance as a cabby and the smart use of two standard office chairs as the cab in a well-choreographed scene with some fun deductive reasoning, too.  Jeremy Kreuzer – in maybe the smallest roles of the cast – has some of the most critical scenes, as Jean Conan Doyle’s protective butler (his eyes and his hands are equally expressive) and as “dead” Green when Moran is Holmes. He pulls comic just back from slapstick to make this scene absolutely work.

It’s Wendy Hall’s transformations that are most startling. She’s the Victorian-sickly (first) wife of Conan Doyle, a competitive Sherlockian, a police officer, and Conan Doyle’s daughter, Jean. As Jean, the tilt of her head, her trembling right hand, the decline of her disposition and demeanor is disciplined, precise. This was a superb performance.

The Crew

I loved the sophisticated stagecraft that brought this all together. Dyan Burlingame’s set design incorporates puzzle outlines as art in an interesting way. Production Stage Manager Stephen Brakey and Assistant Stage Manager Tiffany Jaramillo kept the action moving. Sound, costumes, props are on point.

Mysterious Circumstances is the real deal: a true story steeped in fiction created by an author who didn’t want to be known as the father of crime fiction. It’s a fine production and a great way for RLTP to launch season 19.

Mysterious Circumstances runs a full two hours with a 15-minute intermission until October 15. Tickets and details at https://www.roadlesstraveledproductions.org/. BYOD – bring your own deerstalker.