The daily Astorian., June 21, 2018, Page 14, Image 13

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over, while Slabinski, Hull
and Dante must keep the au-
dience up to speed on who’s
who while coming on and
offstage depicting a revolv-
ing lineup of more than 35
supporting characters.
The iconic duo
To reincarnate Sherlock
Holmes — who holds a
Guinness World Records
title for “Most Portrayed
Literary Human Character
in Film & TV” — Jagodnik
studied the mannerisms and
character choices made by
well-known actors who de-
picted the iconic sleuth, but
he is also relying on his own
interpretation and instincts.
“You have to go with
what you have,” he said.
“It’s you doing it, it’s your
voice, it’s your body. You
can’t be Jeremy Brett, even
though you want to be. You
can’t be Basil Rathbone or
Benedict Cumberbatch.”
For Watson, Sweeney is
focused on two watchwords:
chronicler and observer.
“Much of what I try to do
is respond to what’s going
on around me, more reactive
than proactive,” he said.
In “Baskerville,” Watson
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PHOTOS BY GEORGE VETTER PHOTO/CANNON-BEACH.NET
From left: Slab Slabinski, David Sweeney, Frank Jagodnik and Emily Dante star in ‘Baskerville: A
Sherlock Holmes Mystery’ at the Coaster Theatre.
and Sherlock already have
an established friendship
and professional partnership,
which is the heart of the
show.
“Their relationship is
the key to everything they
do,” Tronier said. “They’re
yin and yang. They com-
plement each other so well
and would do anything for
each other. Especially in
Victorian-era London, it’s
cool they had such a strong
friendship.”
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not a particularly endearing
character — he’s addicted to
drugs and smoking, can be
volatile and has sociopathic
tendencies. Watson, how-
ever, “sees the humanity in
him, he sees the brilliance,
the mind,” Tronier said.
Sherlock’s “wicked habits,”
which are referred to in the
play, help bring him down a
notch.
“Because Sherlock is
flawed, he’s more relatable,”
she said. “If he was just this
brilliant detective who was a
nice guy, I don’t think peo-
ple would like him as much,
because there wouldn’t be a
relatable aspect to him.”
Jagodnik and Sweeney
emphasize the importance
of artfully portraying the
co-dependence and loyalty
between the detective and
his sidekick, whose relation-
ship has served as a template
for other buddy cop duos for
more than a century.
Like a musical
(without the singing)
For the other three actors,
the focus is breadth rather
than depth. During the start
of the rehearsal process,
they individually met with
Tronier to discuss each of
their individual characters
and conceptualize how that
person would talk and move,
or what idiosyncrasies could
define them.
“I encouraged them to
explore physically, as well
as vocally,” Tronier said.
While the costumes
Judith Light has created
for each character will help
evoke and distinguish them,
the onus is on the actors
to endow each one with a
different voice or accent,
physical characteristic or
other mannerisms.
“There are a couple
scenes where each of us
are playing two different
characters in the same scene
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Emily Dante, left, and Ryan Hull on the Coaster Theatre stage in
‘Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery’
Coaster Theatre actors (from left) David Sweeney, Slab Slabins-
ki, Frank Jagodnik in ‘Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery’
and even speaking two lines
back-to-back as different
characters,” Slabinski said.
Some characters make a
single appearance in a short
scene; others weave their
presence throughout the
show’s approximately 30
scenes. From an audience
perspective, Dante said,
“you really have no idea
who’s going to pop out from
behind the curtain.”
The challenge for the
whole cast and crew is
to embrace the absurd
moments, but also main-
tain sincerity. Contrary to
popular belief, melodrama
is accomplished not through
“overacting” but exhibit-
ing heightened emotions,
Tronier said, adding, “It’s
very much like a musical,
without the singing.” While
the script could lend itself
to “just being silly,” Tronier
said, the show would lack
depth and emotion.
“The task that was given
to them — especially the
three actors — was to
ground those characters in
reality, give them real emo-
tions,” she said. “They have
to be real, because the more
real they are, the funnier
they’ll actually be.”
Performances begin at
7:30 p.m. Visit coastertheatre.
com for a full show and event
calendar, or call the Coaster
Theatre box office at 503-436-
1242 for tickets. CW