Playwright: Adapted by Michael Menendian and John Weagly from the story by Arthur Conan Doyle. At: Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St. Tickets: 773-338-2177; www.raventheatre.com; $20 . Runs through: Dec. 29
What lends this Sherlock Holmes whodunit its seasonal theme is the prominent clue provided by that indispensable centerpiece of Victorian Christmas repasts, roast goose. The key to solving the mystery is not in the cooking or eating, however, but the journey of these fowls from their barnyard coops to the tables of London.
The incident launching our story is the theft of a precious brooch, set with a rare blue gem, belonging to a guest staying in a Mayfair hotel. Holmes and Watson are intrigued by the case after the stolen bijou is found in the craw of a goose purchased at the Covent Garden market. Despite the property's recovery seeming to conclude the matter, Holmes thinks the police may have arrested the wrong man, and proposes to trace the progress of the jewel through a labyrinth winding over the urban landscape of 1892, with its prototypal shopper's clubs, back-yard farming industry, and newsboys hawking the latest headlines. Oh, and since this is a Christmas tale, the criminal, upon being exposed, pleadsand is grantedmercy after promising to cease his dishonest ways.
Michael Menendian and John Weagly's adaptation appears to have undergone some changes since making its debut in 2012. The presence of stageside technicians supplying incidental music and sound effects ( think radio plays ) is minimized after the dramatic action commences, lest it become a distraction. Actors swap costumes and shift scenery, story theater-style, to create a vivid array of period images, their transitions bridged by catchy original arrangements of traditional carols.
What still needs to be addressed is the ambiguous tone of our vaudeville's narrative segment. If intended as straightforward detection, then its personnel must be played straight-faced, with the thief's reformation rendered plausible within the context of his character. If, on the other hand, the goal is slapstick of the kind associated with Panto aimed at juvenile audiences, more mugging and winking is necessary, the quaint ( in 2013 ) concept of freshly butcheredas opposed to frozen and plastic-wrappedpoultry emphasized, and the intellectual enjoyment of the plot discarded altogether.
It's difficult to imagine how a production performed only three weeks a year can provide feedback for the authors in sufficient quantity to fulfill its undeniable potential as an annual treat for holiday audiences of all ages. Look to 2014 for Menendian and Weagly to decide what kind of goose they will serve up.