ACT 1
Baker Street. No 21b.
Enter SHERLOCK HOLMES and DOCTOR WATSON.
SHERL: Were al the fiery demons in the nether world
To blow their poisonous smoke into London
Compound it with a yel ow hue and take
Away our light, they could not make a fouler day
Than we have now.
WATS: It’s foggy out?
SHERL: It is.
A wretched, vile and tedious kind of morning,
And nothing in the post but thanks from Scotland
That I did solve the sudden death of Duncan,
Not to mention Banquo. No doubt by now
You’ve written up the case and had it published?
WATS: A little five-act tragedy, with notes
On some of the more striking details.
SHERL: And blood, and fights, deaths, witches, ghosts and al
` The melodrama that you inflict on logic,
I’l be bound. Once I ‘d seen the importance
Of having not two murderers but three,
The rest was simple. Have you read the paper?
WATS: Only the Morning Post. King Lear’s
Stil lost. A fascinating trial in Venice.
A case of changed identity in Verona,
And sundry goings on at Windsor.
Nothing else.
(A noise on the stair)
SHER: But here, unless I’m much mistook, comes one
That needs our aid. A case at last!
(Enter to them HAMLET)
HAM: Which one –
SHERL: Of us is Holmes? ‘Tis I. This gentle here
Is Watson, my devoted friend and colleague.
HAM: Good morrow to you both. You do not know me –
SHERL: Apart from knowing that you are a prince,
From Denmark, I would hazard, and a solitary,
That you take snuff, have lately been at sea,
Were frightened by a horse at five and now
Are sitting for your portrait, you are a stranger.
WATS: Good heavens, Holmes!
HAM: Do you have magic powers?
SHERL: Sheer observation. You do wear a crown
And are a prince. You have a Danish accent,
Your shoes have late been knotted by a seaman,
There’s snuff upon your ruff, and on your doublet
Some Prussian Blue flicked by a careless painter.
That you do not frequent society
Was clear because you did not knock the door
When entering, and then did leave it standing ope.
WATS: But, Sherlock, what’s this about his childhood fright?
SHERL: Come, come, dear Watson! Lives there yet a man
Who was not frightened by a horse at five?
HAM: Al that you say is true, and yet I fear
You cannot guess my problem. To be brief,
My father was King of Denmark, where
Now reigns his brother, my uncle, Claudius
With his wife, my mother, the late Queen
And Queen again. Sir, I implore your aid.
SHERclass="underline" The grammar’s convoluted, but I think
I have the picture. I have the answer too.
The wrong man reigns – you should have climbed the throne.
HAM: No, no that’s Danish law, to instate the brother
Not the son. What I seek to know
Is how my father was so cruel y murdered?
SHERL: Your father murdered? Are you sure of this?
HAM: Quite sure. My father’s ghost has told me so.
SHERL: I see. (Aside) Quick, Watson, get your gun This man’s
A raving lunatic (To HAMLET) You have a suspect?
HAM: I fear the foulest of my Uncle, Claudius.
SHERL: No evidence?
HAM: Except that he poured poison
Into the ear of my poor sleeping father.
SHERL: How know’st thou this?
HAM: The ghost did tel me so.
SHERL: Hmm. (Aside) A talkative ghost.
Would that he were
Admissible in a court of British justice. (To HAMLET)
This case is not without its points of interest.
Within a day or two, sweet prince, I may wel be
With you in Denmark.
HAM: My thanks! (Exit)
SHERL: Or there again
I may wel not. I’ve better things to do
Than listen to the babbling of mad youths.
(Enter CLAUDIUS disguised)
CLAUD: Have I the honour to address the wel -known Holmes?
SHERL: You do not. He is my trusty colleague Watson.
WATS: Hel o.
CLAUD: Hel o. And was the man outside
Young Hamlet, Prince of Denmark?
And did he spin you some far-fangled tale
Of how his uncle has contrived his father’s death?
SHERL: That was the drift.
CLAUD: Pay him no heed. He has
A most ingenious mind, but little sense.
SHERL: Indeed, Your Majesty?
CLAUD: You guessed?
SHERL: Of course.
You too did leave the door ajar, and wear a crown
Are there many more like you at home?
CLAUD: Nevertheless I swear there’s nothing to it.
Remember – you come to Elsinore at your peril.
(Exit CLAUDIUS)
SHERL: Better and better! I think it would not hurt
To spend a day or two at Elsinore.
Watson, look up the boats and see which leaves
Tomorrow morning on the Danish line.
WATS: Right ho.
ACTS 11,111,1V AND V
Denmark
Enter SHERLOCK HOLMES and WATSON
WATS: A draughty castle this, Holmes. Where a man
Could catch his death of cold.
SHERL: I wouldn’t be surprised if Hamlet’s father froze to death.
But look! What shape is this?
(Enter HAMLET’S FATHER’S GHOST)
GHOST: For you to be in Denmark is not meet.
Go now, and get you back to Baker Street.
(GHOST vanishes)
WATS: I think he’s right, Holmes: I do fear that he
Came from the other world to give us warning!
SHERL: (With lens)
Then why did he leave prints in this soft earth
Of hunting boots, size 10, one broken heel
And marks of clay upon the instep? Tel me that?
(Enter HAMLET)
HAM: ‘Tis good to see you, Mr Holmes. Have you
Found aught that might reveal the murderer?
SHERL: A clue or two. But tel me, Prince, is there
A man who served your father at court
Of whom I might a few light questions ask?
HAM: Alas, alas, one such there was, but he
-Polonius- I mean - has just been stabbed in’th’arras.
WATS: Sounds painful. Is this a Danish malady?
SHERL: And does he live?
HAM: No, sir, his life has ebbed.
SHERL: Most interesting. And tel me, Hamlet, too
If Claudius should die, have you a queen?
HAM: I would have had, in fair Ophelia.
SHERL: You would have had. You mean –
HAM: She’s also dead.
WATS: I told you that the castle was unhealthy.
SHERL: I think I start to see some light amid the gloom
I’l take a walk and meet back in our room.
A graveyard with diggers
Enter SHERLOCK HOLMES
SHERL: Good fel ows, may I talk to you and ask
What is’t you do?
1ST DIG: Why sir, ‘tis meet we dig, though ‘tis not meat
We dig, but bones, of that we make no bones,
And then into this hole we place the bones,
Though being bones they are not whole…
SHERL: Here’s five bob.
2nd DIG: To answer questions?
SHERL: No, to stop thy puns
Here’s five bob more to answer question with.
Now, tel me straight, is business good or bad?
1st DIG: Not bad, not good. Not good for us, but good
For those that stay alive. ‘Tis many a year
Since we did have good digging, people live so long.
SHERL: Except for Hamlet’s father.
2nd DIG: A one-off job.
Since then, nothing. Stil it may pick up.