| The Speckled Band | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Characters | Sherlock Holmes Dr. Watson |
| Date premiered | June 4, 1910[1] |
| Place premiered | Adelphi Theatre London, England |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | London, England |
The Speckled Band is a 1910 play in three acts[2] by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, based on his own 1892 short story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".[1]
In 1909, Conan Doyle had leased the Adelphi Theatre at his own expense for a production of a boxing drama[1] entitled The House of Temperley which was an adaptation of his novel Rodney Stone.[2] While the play was initially a success, the death of King Edward VII caused West End theatres to close for a month in mourning[1] The closing spelled the demise of the play.[1] To recoup his loses and do something with an empty theatre he had leased, Conan Doyle decided to stage a new play.[1] Keeping in mind that William Gillette had achieved great success with his play Sherlock Holmes, which was based on an earlier Conan Doyle script,[3] Conan Doyle wrote his own Sherlock Holmes play in a week.[1]
"I shut myself up and devoted my whole mind to making a sensational Sherlock Holmes drama. I wrote it in a week and called it The Speckled Band after the short story of that name. I do not think I exaggerate if I say that within a fortnight of the one play shutting down I had a company working upon the rehearsals of a second one, which had been written in the interval. It was a considerable success."[4]
Conan Doyle made some alterations to the names of his characters, with Roylott becoming Rylott, and Julia Stoner becoming Violet Stoner.[5]
Conan Doyle hired an actor with a great deal of experience as Sherlock Holmes; H. A. Saintsbury had toured the Gillette play[6] and was on the verge of his 1,000th performance in the role.[1] Lyn Harding was cast to play Dr. Rylott and also direct the play, a decision Conan Doyle quickly came to regret.[1] Over the course of many rehearsals, Harding slowly transformed the character into a more idiosyncratic character which infuriated Conan Doyle.[1] Harding desired for Rylott to be more central to the story whereas Conan Doyle wanted less of his presence.[2] J. M. Barrie was invited to view the rehearsals and provide an opinion as he was friends with both Harding and Conan Doyle.[1] Harding's interpretation carried the day with Barrie saying "Let Harding have his own way."[1]
The play premiered on 4 June 1910.[7] The play was an immediate success and Harding's performance was adored by critics.[1] Proven wrong, Conan Doyle sent Harding a letter of congratulations.[1] Over time, Conan Doyle came to appreciate Harding's performance.
"Lyn Harding, as the half-epileptic and wholly formidable Doctor Grimesby Rylott, was most masterful, while Saintsbury as Sherlock Holmes was also very good. Before the end of the run, I had cleared off all that I had lost upon the other play, and I had created a permanent property of some value. It became a stock piece and is even now touring the country."[4]
The snake used in performances was less appreciated.
"We had a fine rock boa to play the title-rôle, a snake which was the pride of my heart, so one can imagine my disgust when I saw that one critic ended his disparaging review by the words, 'The crisis of the play was produced by the appearance of a palpably artificial serpent.' I was inclined to offer him a goodly sum if he would undertake to go to bed with it. The real fault of the play was that in trying to give Holmes a worthy antagonist I overdid it and produced a more interesting personality in the villain. The terrible ending was also against it."[4]
The Speckled Band ran for 169 performances at the Adelphi Theatre[1] before enjoying a successful tour in England and the continent.[1]
Autumn of 1910 brought the production to Boston, Massachusetts[8] and later New York City, New York with Harding continuing in as Rylott but Holmes recast with Charles Millward taking the role.[9]
In 1914, the Chicago, Illinois production cast H. Cooper Cliffe in the role of Holmes with Harding continuing as Rylott.[11] There was a London revival in 1921[9] with H. A. Saintsbury returning to the role of Holmes.[9]
The play was adapted to film in 1931 as The Speckled Band with Lyn Harding repeating his role as Dr. Grimesby Rylott and starring Raymond Massey as Sherlock Holmes.[12]