Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, working in very different fields, both possessed gifts for mystifying the public. Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky’s play shows how a friendship borne out of mutual admiration was formed between the two, only to flounder when Doyle’s stubborn advocacy of spiritualism clashed with Houdini’s staunch belief that everything must have a logical explanation. Alan Cox is the confident and unswerving illusionist and Phil Jupitus drifts in and out of a Scottish accent (risky for this venue) as the creator of Sherlock Holmes. The writers sow the seeds of a good idea that never really comes to fruition in a rather flat production falling well short of the wit and invention for which both of its protagonists were renowned.
Performance date: 16 August 2015
The Beast's Pen 