Sherlock Holmes on the Czech stages

Sherlock Holmes entered the stage in the 1890s. His first appearance was in a musical parody Under the Clock introduced in Royal Court Theatre in November 1893. It is important to note that it did not make Arthur Conan Doyle happy and year later his hero showed himself in a form more acceptable for his creator. Doyle also wrote his own screenplay, which was later rewritten by the most famous theatrical Holmes, William Gillette.

In Czech theatres people can see Holmes at first in the 1960s when the Detective appeared in a premiere of the play The Hound of the Baskervilles written by Jan Skopeček, and classic Broadway musical Baker Street performed by State Theatre of Ostrava.

Next to pure detective dramas, comedies and parodies, famous detective starred in musicals and even in wooden form. Maybe only ballet... No, even dancing Sherlock exists, but has not entered Czech scene just yet. However Czech theatre-goers can enjoy the original play, written by Doyle himself and adjusted by Gillette, which premiered in 1979 in a theatre in Cheb.

Following list consists only premieres of particular plays regardless of their scene. The exception is renewed premiere of play by Jan Skopeček, because it is reworked screenplay, and Baker Street performed by State Opera in Brno, because Theatre Institute listed it as an opera. For all those who are interested in reading about other versions of shown productions, I will forward you to a database of the aforementioned institution, which served as a source to this list.

Original Czech plays

Baskervillský pes (The Hound of Baskerville)

theatre: Divadlo Jiřího Wolkra Praha

genre: drama, premiere: 9. 2.1965

relation to canon: a dramatisation of [HOUN]

dramatisation: Jan Skopeček; director: Václav Tomšovský; set designer: Vladimír Nývlt; costume designer: Jan Kropáček

Cast: Sherlock Holmes: Erik Zámiš; Dr. John H. Watson: Jan Gross;

Pes baskervillský (The Hound of Baskerville)

theatre: Divadlo Příbram

genre: drama, premiere: 16.11.1995

relation to canon: a dramatisation of [HOUN]

dramatisation: Jan Skopeček; stage director: Rudolf Fleischer (j.h.); set designer: Vladimír Všetečka; dramaturge: Martin Tůma

cast: Sherlock Holmes: Jiří Žák; Dr. Watson: Rudolf Leitner;

note: A new premiere of rewrited Skopeček‘s work from 1965.

Pes baskervillský (The Hound of Baskerville)

theatre: Divadlo Alfa Plzeň

genre: puppets, premiere: 7. 3.1997

relation to canon: a dramatisation of [HOUN]

dramatisation: Jan Dvořák, stage director: Tomáš Dvořák; set designer: Ivan Nesveda; music: Jiří Koptík

cast: Sherlock Holmes: Vladimír Čada; Dr. John H. Watson: Petr Borovský

Prokletí rodu Baskervillů aneb Pozor zlý pes! (A Curse of Baskervilles, or: Beware the Dog!)

theatre: Divadelní sdružení CD 2002 Praha (Divadlo v Celetné Praha)

genre: drama, premiere: 30. 9.2002

relation to canon: a dramatisation of [HOUN]

dramatisation: Jiří Janků, stage director: Petr Svojtka; set designer: Petr Zeman; costume designer: Lucie Morávková; music: Tomáš Kořének; motion cooperation: Václav Luks, Petr Svojtka

Cast: Sherlock Holmes: Radim Kalvoda; Dr. Watson: Hynek Čermák

Kocour Holmes & Kocour Watson (Holmes the Cat & Watson the Cat)

theatre: Slovácké divadlo Uherské Hradiště

genre: musical, premiere 26.12.2002

relation to canon: the original play

composer: Jiří Mottl; playwright/dramatist: František Petrák and Michal Zeman; stage director: Igor Stránský; set designer: František Petrák; choreographer: Ladislava Košíková (j.h.); dramaturge: Andrea Helmichová

cast: Holmes the Cat: Kamil Pulec; Watson the Cat: David Vaculík

Pes baskervillský (Pes Baskervillesský) (The Hound of Baskerville)

theatre: Buchty a loutky Praha (scéna Studio Švandova divadla)

genre: puppets, premiere: 29. 9.2004

relation to canon: a dramatisation of [HOUN]

dramatisation: Tomáš Procházka; stage director: Tomáš Procházka; set designer: Milena Dubšíková; puppet designer: Milena Dubšíková

Sherlock Holmes

theatre: Centrum experimentálního divadla Brno (Divadlo Husa na provázku)

genre: drama premiére: 3. 4.2005

relation to canon: a dramatisation of IDEN, REDH, CARD, CHAS, LADY

dramatisation: Eva Tálská, Radan Koryčanský, Luboš Balák; stage director: Eva Tálská; stage designer: Jana Zbořilová; music: Mario Buzzi; dramaturge: Radan Koryčanský

cast: Sherlock Holmes: Luboš P. Veselý; Dr. John H. Watson: Petr Jeništa

Případy Sherlocka Holmese (The Sherlock Holmes‘s Cases)

theatre: Divadlo Šumperk

genre: drama, premiére: 20. 2.2010

relation to canon: a dramatisation of SIGN (?)

dramatisation: Ondřej Elbel, stage director: Ondřej Elbel; stage designer: Zuzana Přidalová; music: Petr Hromádka

cast: Sherlock Holmes: Vojtěch Lipina; Dr. Watson: Lukáš Matěj

Sherlock Holmes: vraždy vousatých žen (Sherlock Holmes: Murders of Bearded Ladies)

theatre: Klicperovo divadlo Hradec Králové

genre: drama; premiere: 18.12.2010

relation to canon: the original play

dramatisation: David Drábek, stage director: David Drábek; dramaturge: Jana Slouková; stage designer výtvarník: Jan Štěpánek; costume designer: Marek Cpin; music: Darek Král; lyrics: Tomáš Belko; motion cooperation: Henrieta Hornáčková

cast: Sherlock Holmes: Lubor Novotný; Dr. John Watson: Dušan Hřebíček

Poslední případ Sherlocka Holmese (The Last Case of Sherlock Holmes)

theatre: Divadlo Tramtarie

genre: drama; premiere: 4.12.2012

relation to canon: the original play

dramatisation: Jiří Jelínek, dramaturge: Vladislav Kracík, music: Lukáš Mareček, stage designer, costumes: Zů Vítková, cooperation: Jakub Janovec, poster artist: Markéta Rosendorfová

cast: Sherlock Holmes: Jiří Jelínek

Pes baskervillský (The Hound of Baskerville)

theatre: Divadelní klub Jirásek, Česká Lípa

genre: drama, premiere: 16.4. 2004

relation to canon: a dramatisation of [HOUN]

Director: Václav Klapka, stage designer, costumes: Renata Grolmusová, music: Bohuslav Myslík, lights: Jiří Žírovnický,

Sherlock Holmes: Václav Klapka, Dr. Watson..Karel Bělohubý

Holmesiáda

theatre: Divadelní klub Jirásek, Česká Lípa

genre: drama, premiere: 24.4. 2006

relation to canon: the original play (A parodic sequel to previous Klapka´s play, a dramatization of HOUN. The great detective faces Dr. Moriarty and his sidekicks, Count Dracula and Frankenstein)

Director: Václav Klapka, stage designer, costumes: Renata Grolmusová, music: Bohuslav Myslík

Sherlock Holmes: Václav Klapka, Dr. Watson: Karel Bělohubý

Translated Plays

Dobrodružství Sherlocka Holmese (a literal translation: An Adventure of Sherlock Holmes, an original title: Baker Street)

theatre: Státní divadlo Ostrava

genre: musical, premiere 18.11.1967

relation to canon: a dramatisation of [SCAN]

dramatist: Jerome Coopersmith; composer: Marian Grudeff; Raymond Jessel; conductor: Vladimír Brázda; director: Bedřich Kramosil; scenography: Otto Šujan; costumes: Stanislava Vaníčková; choreographer: Julie Jastřembská; choirmaster: František Čihánek

Sherlock Holmes: Zdeněk Růžička; Doktor Watson: Josef Kobr

Dobrodružství Sherlocka Holmese (a literal translation: An Adventure of Sherlock Holmes, an original title: Baker Street)

theatre: Státní divadlo Brno

genre: opera, premiéra 19. 4.1968

relation to canon: a dramatisation of [SCAN]

dramatist: Jerome Coopersmith; composer: Marian Grudeff; Raymond Jessel;

translator: Ivo T. Havlů; conductor: Jiří Karásek; stage director: Rudolf Kulhánek; stage designer: Alois Vobejda; choreographer: Bohumil Čegan; choirmaster: Dagmar Komárková

Sherlock Holmes: Milan Pokorný; Dr. Watson: Antonín Julínek

Note: Theatre Institue listed this production of Coopersmith´s musical as an opera

Konec Sherlocka Holmese aneb Skandál v Čechách (a literal translation: The End of Sherlock Holmes, or: A Scandal in Bohemia, an original title: Sherlock Holmes)

theatre: Západočeské divadlo Cheb

genre: drama, premiere 14. 4.1979

relation to canon: the original play (see the note)

dramatist: William Gillette; Arthur Conan Doyle; translator: Šimon Pellar; director: Jan Grossman; stage designer: Michal Hess

Sherlock Holmes: Radko Choc; Dr.Watson: Petr Drholec

Note: The plot is based on A Scandal in Bohemia [SCAN] and The Final Problem [FINA], and also includes elements from A Study in Scarlet [STUD], The Sign of Four [FOUR], The Boscombe Valley Mystery [BOSC] and The Greek Interpreter [GREE]

26.8.2021 (17.7. 2013)