Misadventures with Sherlock and Co.

By Elijah Peh

The latest production hosted by the Drama Team boasted incredible engagement, with the Harbor Hall bustling with eager viewers of their hard work. This time, the team created a masterful rendition of the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, complete with all of your favorite characters: Watson, Mrs. Hudson, and, of course, Sherlock Holmes. However, with a twist that offered an inside look into the author's own mind.   

Working tirelessly for months, the Drama Team auditioned, cast, scripted, rehearsed, and even advertised their own work, ensuring that all who could attend could see the culmination of their efforts. I'm sure you have seen Joshua Conklin, Iyan Sandahl, or Matthew Platt busily promoting the moment you entered school or even at lunch at the lunch tables. To this, I applaud their efforts and congratulate them on their success. Of course, it would be wrong to ignore the much more subtle but equally important roles of the Tech Production Team, which crafted the Lighting Effects, Sound Design, and even Set Design for the Drama, all of which were integral to the whole production. 

This is all the more evident when Nathan Johnson, a member of tech production, reports that "[being] part of the drama stage crew for the production was great because I met so many new people and got to see some incredible acting. It was a great chance to see another side of Dalat that I had never been a part of before."

The entertaining play offered a myriad of amusements, awarding the audience their laughs and tears as it wound the audience's emotions into a knot through its engaging story. The cast ensured this through their comedic but canonically significant usage of a British accent, which cracked much to the audience's amusement. Aiden Wong's depiction of Arthur Conan Doyle was a fresh twist on the innumerable parodies as it comically portrays the mental state and methodology that the author himself went through when creating the character of Sherlock Holmes. Matthew Platt played the part of John H Watson, Sherlock's partner-in-work, and as usual, and to the audience's delight, stayed true to the character, often being the butt of many of Sherlock's jokes and whims; however, many scenes portrayed his own character as a righteous and just man who upholds the honor of others. And, of course, Sherlock, played by Michael Silverstein, who solves the mystery, upholds his uppity attitude, and of course, toys with the characters on his whims, which were all masterfully portrayed through Michael's acting and dramatization.

All in all, the Drama production was a smashing success. With a hoard of tickets sold and many laughs, it was an entertaining three days for all attendees. I hope that the Drama Team found these last few days a final and fantastic release of stress and anxiety, and I am looking forward to the next one! Here's to Drama!