''The Speckled Band'' is a 1910 play in three acts by

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

, based on his own 1892 short story "

The Adventure of the Speckled Band "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the eighth story of twelve in the collection ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It was originally published in '' Strand Ma ...

Background

In 1909, Conan Doyle had leased the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

at his own expense for a production of a boxing drama entitled ''The House of Temperley'' which was an adaptation of his novel ''

Rodney Stone ''Rodney Stone'' is a Gothic mystery and boxing novel by Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first published in 1896. The eponymous narrator is a Sussex country boy who is the son of a sailor and wishes to go to sea himself. He is taken ...

''. While the play was initially a success, the death of King Edward VII caused West End theatres to close for a month in mourning The closing spelled the demise of the play. To recoup his loses and do something with an empty theatre he had leased, Conan Doyle decided to stage a new play. Keeping in mind that

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...

had achieved great success with his play '' Sherlock Holmes'', which was based on an earlier Conan Doyle script, Conan Doyle wrote his own Sherlock Holmes play in a week. Conan Doyle made some alterations to the names of his characters, with Roylott becoming Rylott, and Julia Stoner becoming Violet Stoner.

Casting

Conan Doyle hired an actor with a great deal of experience as Sherlock Holmes;

H. A. Saintsbury Harry Arthur Saintsbury, usually called H. A. Saintsbury (18 December 1869 – 19 June 1939), was an English actor and playwright. A leading man, he became well known for his stage interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, was an early mentor of Cha ...

had toured the Gillette play and was on the verge of his 1,000th performance in the role.

Lyn Harding David Llewellyn Harding (12 October 1867 – 26 December 1952), known professionally as Lyn Harding, was a Welsh actor who spent 40 years on the stage before entering British made silent films, talkies and radio. He had an imposing and menac ...

was cast to play Dr. Rylott and also direct the play, a decision Conan Doyle quickly came to regret. Over the course of many rehearsals, Harding slowly transformed the character into a more idiosyncratic character which infuriated Conan Doyle. Harding desired for Rylott to be more central to the story whereas Conan Doyle wanted less of his presence.

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

was invited to view the rehearsals and provide an opinion as he was friends with both Harding and Conan Doyle. Harding's interpretation carried the day with Barrie saying "Let Harding have his own way."

Production

The play premiered on 4 June 1910. The play was an immediate success and Harding's performance was adored by critics. Proven wrong, Conan Doyle sent Harding a letter of congratulations. Over time, Conan Doyle came to appreciate Harding's performance. The snake used in performances was less appreciated. ''The Speckled Band'' ran for 169 performances at the Adelphi Theatre before enjoying a successful tour in England and the continent. Autumn of 1910 brought the production to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

and later

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York with Harding continuing in as Rylott but Holmes recast with Charles Millward taking the role.

Cast

as Sherlock Holmes *

as Dr Grimesby Rylott *

Claude King Claude King (February 5, 1923 – March 7, 2013) was an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for his million selling 1962 hit, "Wolverton Mountain". Biography King was born in Keithville in southern Caddo Parish south ...

as Doctor Watson *

Christine Silver Christine Silver (17 December 1883 – 23 November 1960) was a British stage, film and television actress, and a playwright. Early life Christine Isie Silver was born in 1883 (some sources give 1884), in London, the daughter of Arthur Silver a ...

as Enid Stoner

Revivals

In 1914, the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

production cast H. Cooper Cliffe in the role of Holmes with Harding continuing as Rylott. There was a London revival in 1921 with H. A. Saintsbury returning to the role of Holmes.

Film adaptation

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.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Speckled Band 1910 plays Works based on Sherlock Holmes Works by Arthur Conan Doyle