Ken Ludwig’s The Games Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays opens at Cascades Theatrical Company November 8.

It is December 1936 and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes has invited his fellow cast-members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. Then it’s up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. The danger and hilarity are non-stop in this glittering whodunit set during the Christmas holidays.

Playgoers may not be aware that William Gillette was an actual person, an American actor, playwright and stage manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a now lost 1916 silent film. Gillette’s most significant contributions to the theatre were in devising realistic stage settings and special sound and lighting effects and as an actor putting forth what he called the Illusion of the First Time.

The director for this show is local theatre talent, Liam O’Sruitheain. Last season Liam directed Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Liam has worked professionally in theatre since 1973. He is a veteran of San Francisco Repertory, Berkeley and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, American Players Theatre in Wisconsin and the former national Shakespeare Company.  

Opening night for The Games Afoot; or Holmes for the Holidays is Friday, November 8 at 7:30pm with a preview night on November 7.
541-389-0803, or visit www.cascadestheatrical.org.

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