Sherlock Holmes and the Elusive Ear

I saw the Holmes play at Stage West and it was excellent. I was a little concerned that the use of famous Victorians as characters would be too gimmicky, but it was fun, and they actually pronounced Vincent Van Gogh's name in the Dutch way, like "Hogh" instead of the American or British way. Also fascinating is that Irene Adler is merged with Mrs. Hudson; apparently Watson made up the fictitious persona to cover up the scandalous amorous relationship. The playwright is clearly a Sherlockian, sprinkling in lovely details like the V.R. in bullet holes and the tin dispatch box at the bank. He also writes women in a feminist way and understands that Irene Adler is not a villain; she blackmailed one bastard ex who wronged her. She was not a career criminal gleefully destroying people for profit; she was an opera singer. In the play, she has also become a partner in Holmes's detective work while pretending to be the mere landlady to clients.

The play takes place post-Reichenbach, but also needs to take place in December 1888 to coincide with Vincent Van Gogh's ear trauma after a fight with Paul Gauguin. But movie timelines for Holmes have long been wonky, such as the Rathbone movies and Without a Clue, so I can go with it. Oscar Wilde also makes reference to his Portrait of Dorian Gray novel, still in progress along with Watson's (Doyle's) The Sign of Four novel. There's a couple of clever Princess Bride references, with spectacular fencing duels. Van Gogh also takes Watson's portrait of "Chinese Gordon" and paints over it while drunk on absinthe. Very funny and delightful. I loved the costumes and wish I could have taken pictures of them, but of course that's a no no during live theatre. Definitely looking forward to the sequel next season.

Edited to add:

Hooray, I found a  publicity photo from Stage West with the characters in costume. Isn't that blue dress beautiful? I also uploaded some pictures of the set to my Substack Notes. If you zoom in to the wall behind the chaise lounge, there's the V.R. in bullets on the wall.