Next Show, july 10th 2012 @ the royal Spa centre, leamington

Next Show, July 10th 2012,  @ the Royal Spa Centre, Leamington

Details coming soon. This is our collaboration with the Spires Youth Orchestra. It is an amazing opportunity for the dancers to perform to a live orchestra and for the musicians to experience the joy of working together with a live cast.

Sherlock holmes and the spanish tiara

News Article and Reviews

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes. The Spanish Tiara is not one of them. Our story is set in 1911/12  - Conan Doyle’s last novel featuring Holmes (The Valley of Fear) was written in 1915 so the period setting for the Spanish Tiara is accurate. So where did the idea for the Spanish Tiara come from?

Miss Katherine had the initial concept idea. Holmes and Watson would solve the case of the theft of a diamond tiara from the crown jewels held at the Tower of London. With a few modifications,  the plot was hatched:

The tiara would be stolen to order from the head of Queen Mary, wife of King George V, at the Royal New Years Eve Ball. The tiara was to be repatriated back to its rightful owner, the King of Spain. All Holmes and Watson had to do was recover the tiara and return it to the Queen.

If only it was that simple. After all at the heart of most of Holmes’ cases are common motives such as greed, love and revenge. In this respect the Spanish Tiara is no different. In our plot Lord Blackwood loves Moira Arty (our female alternative of Holmes' archenemy Dr Moriarty). In contrast Moira Arty’s relationship with Lord Blackwood is based solely on his title and perceived wealth. Blackwood, struggling with huge gambling debts, sees the tiara as his ticket to escape to America with money and the woman he loves.

All of these motives get progressively submerged by the complexity of many fake tiaras in multiple identical luggage trunks, and an ever increasing panoply of people chasing them across Europe.

Miss Kat, one of the co-writers commented “we got to the point where we were totally confused about who had which tiara, which trunk, why they had them and where they were going. Eventually we had to sit down and map it all out on paper!”

One of the many highlights of the show occurred with an unscripted joke. Isadora Duncan (brilliantly played by Cecile Harvey) tearfully tells Edgar Degas that "she has accidently stolen something from the mafia". But we really loved the ending as the villains of the piece Moira Arty and Lord Blackwood, having escaped the clutches of the British Police find themselves on the Titanic with the finale piece "Jump".

Two casts of nearly 300 students each performed live on stage at the Warwick Arts Centre. DVD's and photographs are available to purchase. You can also download a pdf version of the programme.

DVD Order Form (pdf)

Show Programme (pdf)