The sounds of spring are in the air: the dawn chorus of birds outside the window, the buzz of branch trimming as gardeners begin their clean-up, the hum of the street sweeper as it picks up the astounding amount of grit on the roads. It’s a time of rebirth, of shaking out the cobwebs, of getting back to things that have been put aside over the last few months.
Or years, in my case. I was asked, way back in January, if I would be interested in taking part in an online Sherlock Holmes conference, and making a presentation on a subject of my choice. I was rather surprised to be asked, as I haven’t done anything meaningful in the Sherlockian line for more than a decade, and thought that world had moved on without me as other things occupied my time and attention.
My first inclination was to graciously but regretfully decline: I’m woefully out of touch with current Sherlockian scholarship (yes, this is a real thing). I had also never done a Zoom presentation with accompanying PowerPoint, and didn’t immediately feel that this was water I wanted to wade into. However, as I thought about it I felt the tug of a much-loved hobby too long put aside, so agreed to take part.
I was then faced with the not-inconsiderable matter of what on Earth to talk about. I wanted to keep it light, and fun, and do something that loaned itself to a PowerPoint, so finally settled on a look at the character of Dr. Watson, specifically as played by dear old Nigel Bruce in a series of films (with Basil Rathbone as Holmes) between 1939 and 1946. They were the first Holmes films I ever saw, back when I was not yet in my teens, and while Bruce’s blustery old buffer of a Watson isn’t to the taste of present-day audiences, I wanted to have a go at perhaps rehabilitating him a bit.
This led to re-watching several of those old films, which was a delight in itself, in order to find some clips to use in my PowerPoint. My son trimmed them down to the correct snippets for me, and helped assemble everything into a package, and a few days before the big event the presenters got together virtually for a trial run.
I had forgotten how purely fun it is to be with a group of Sherlockians, and we stayed chatting for long after the test was done. Everything went well on the day, and my presentation was received with kind words and thanks. I thought that would be the end of it, but in the three weeks since I’ve been asked if I’d care to do another presentation — this time on the films of Basil Rathbone, focusing on his time as the great detective — and have also been invited to write an article for a new book of Sherlockian scholarship (I told you that was a real thing).
It made me realize how important it is to hang on to things we enjoy. That isn’t always possible — life has a habit of getting in the way — but I got another chance with that wonderful world where, as the great Sherlockian Vincent Starrett wrote, it is always 1895. It’s not the first time I’ve had a second chance: exactly 10 years ago I saw a poster inviting people to audition for roles in an upcoming Winding Rivers Arts & Performance Society play, Swamp Pirate Zombies. I remembered how much I had enjoyed acting in high school, and on a whim decided to audition, and … well, the rest, as they say, is history.
Having dipped my toe back in the world of Sherlock Holmes, I’m hoping that it won’t be too much longer before WRAPS is able to start moving ahead with another play. It’s been two long years since the last one, and I know a lot of us are itching to get back on (or behind) the stage. In the meantime, I appear to have another PowerPoint presentation to prepare and an article to write. Come, Watson; the game is afoot!
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