Release the Hounds! Colony Drama’s fresh take on Sherlock Holmes

PALMER — These days, probably no literary character is re-imagined, moved from time and place and idealized quite like Sir Arthur Canon Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

From Robert Downey Jr.’s cage-fighting lothario to Benedict Cumberbatch’s terminally underemployed Millennial and Elementary’s take of him as a recovering drug addict/NYPD consultant, Holmes’ range these days seems to know no bounds. Over the next two weekends, the drama cast at Colony High School will be taking the super sleuth’s storyline in yet another direction — dark comedy.

Dina Sawyer, in her first year on full-time staff at Colony is directing “Baskerville”, written by Ken Ludwig, and featuring 27 characters, usually played by five actors, but in this version, nine, headlined by senior Dylan Blohm in his first starring role.

“I have been a huge fan of a lot of different Sherlocks for years,” said Blohm, who said he prefers the Cumberbatch take. “It has a some really funny moments and a lot of dark, serious stuff, too.”

Playing Holmes’ trusty sidekick Is senior Luke Johnson, who takes the stage in his 35th show at Colony tonight.

“This is a community that generally supports theater and supports us, but this is a very good show,” Johnson said. “They’ve never really seen a mesh of dark and comedy like this. We’ve dabbled in the past with some shows, but they haven’t gone as far as this before… It’s interesting to see all those themes mesh together in one production.”

Kurtis Buschy takes on a handful of roles, with his six-shooter-toting Texan providing much of the bizarre and absurd elements of the Ludwig take, which holds true to its original setting in a rural shire in the west of England, where people are supposedly being killed by a cursed, beastly dog.

“I think he was a British guy in the original one, but it’s just fun to do the accent,” Buschy said. “It’s funny, mostly, and not really scary, but suspenseful.”

Ian Duffy, a sophomore in his eighth show, carries perhaps the largest character load with five roles.

“We take it one rehearsal at a time; it’s stressful, but a lot of fun in the end,” Duffy said.

Based on his school’s general camaraderie, Duffy is confident attendance will be strong, and he’s confident the audience will leave quite entertained.

“We at Colony support each other, whether it’s football, basketball, drama, band,” Duffy said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s comedic — dark at times — but a lot of fun.”

Showtimes are 7 p.m. the next two Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets are $7 for students and $10 for adults.

This is the second show of the school year for Colony, which did an old-time radio show earlier in the semester. Feb. 2-11, Colony Drama will take the stage at Glenn Massay Theater for its musical rendition of Disney’s Tarzan.