As much as we love a good story — you know, the kind with an actual beginning, middle, and end — there are times when you just want to take the whole plot line, stick it in a blender, and press puree.  And while you’re at it, why bother putting on the lid? Entirely too neat and tidy. Let it just splatter every which way. Christopher Joel Onken as Conductor, Justin McCombs as Watson, and Topher Embrey as Sir Henry Baskerville in ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles.’ Photo by Madison Patterson. In the grand tradition of the Reduced Shakespeare Company and all the other Reduce-lings who have made mincemeat of the classics, the American Shakespeare Center has an utterly chaotic evening awaiting you, ingeniously disguised as a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Brian Isaac Phillips’ production of Steven Canny and John Nicholson’s The Hound of the Baskervilles is an utterly exquisite mess, in which the story (what story?) takes a backseat to raw creativity, a wicked sense of humor, hypersensitive prima donnas (or dons, as the case may be) topped off by an avalanche of costumes by Elizabeth Wislar the looks of which, alone, will have you in stitches.  (Heidi and Hot Dogs, anyone?) Of course, the theater program dutifully gives you the “Stuff That Happens” storyline, all neat and tidy — and it’s in English, which helps, I guess. But the minute the show starts, with the ever-limber Topher Embrey mime-running in horror from a ravenous hound (provided by an unusually husky-voiced Christopher Seiler), the proceedings come to a screeching halt as a clearly nerve-wracked actor — Christopher Joel Onken, playing a man of as many neuroses as disguises — reads out a list of ridiculous trigger warnings clearly designed more for him than for anyone else. The entire story of this Sherlock Holmes mystery and its cast of thousands is reduced to three actors, with maestro Seiler serving as the Foley Artist (providing sound effects, aforesaid dog howls, etc.) from the Blackfriars balcony. This is chaos according to plan, and a splendid mess of a plan it is, with Onken’s Sherlock Holmes constantly switching costumes and genders, and Justin McCombs’ Watson desperately trying to keep up with the changes, while Embrey’s only-somewhat-dignified scion of the House of Baskerville looks on in bewilderment. TOP LEFT AND RIGHT: Christopher Joel Onken as Sherlock and Justin McCombs as Watson; ABOVE: Christopher Seiler as Foley Artist, in ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles.’ Photos by Madison Patterson. Christopher Seiler provides the musical accompaniment, with canine-themed tunes like Sam the Sham’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and the Monkees’ “Gonna Buy Me a Dog.” It’s always fun to be serenaded with a nod and a wink. Canny and Nicholson’s adaptation of one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes mysteries leaves no stone unturned, no turn unstoned, and no sacred cow unskewered. It’s nuts to do it, and you’d be nuts to miss it. Running Time: Two hours and 15 minutes, including intermission. The Hound of the Baskervilles plays through May 17, 2026, in repertory with Twelfth Night (through May 3) and Hannah Cowley’s A Bold Stroke for a Husband (April 9 to May 2) presented by American Shakespeare Center at the Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 South Market Street, Staunton, VA. For tickets (starting at $39), call the box office at (540) 851-3400 or purchase them online. ASC also offers a Local Rush deal of 50% off tickets on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Learn more here. Cast and artistic team credits for The Hound of the Baskervilles are online here. The spring season program is online here. SEE ALSO:The twists and turns shine in ‘Twelfth Night’ at American Shakespeare Center (review by Andrew Walker White, March 11, 2026) The post Nutty ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ is a howl at American Shakespeare Center appeared first on DC Theater Arts. ...read more read less