A collection of historic reviews and articles on Sherlockian theatrical performances from contemporary newspapers.

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Cinderella, or The Adventures of the Ugly Sisters
("A motor transport company")
December, 1917
"At the front"

COVENTRY MEN IN CINDERELLA.

The Mayor of Coventry has received from a local man in a motor transport company at the front the following account of how the pantomime "Cinderella, or the Adventures of the Ugly Sisters" was recently "staged."

"We were compelled to adapt our plot to the costumes in hand. Cinderella's ugly sisters were kidnapped and killed by Professor Moriarty, who employed the captain of the Forty Thieves to do the deed. The sisters were imprisoned in 'Dunlop Tyres' pardon! I mean 'Towers' - where they were traced by Sherlock Holmes.

The scene then moves to an Alaskan drinking shanty, where the Professor is found endeavouring to 'run' the claim belonging to the Ugly Sisters. Sherlock Holmes arrives on the scene when Moriarty is fleecing a Cheechako, with a fair damsel at stake.

The plot is embellished with two burlesque scenes, one a haunted wing in 'Dunlop Towers' and the other a military farce in the trenches.

Finally, we introduced the celebrated scene between Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty as in the Strange Case of Miss Harker [sic], but we substituted the ugly sisters for Miss Harker.

The last phase was that in which wrongs were righted, the ugly sisters were restored to their parents, the King and Queen of Windy Corner, and all lived happily ever after.

Not having anyone in our company who looked decent enough to portray the beautiful features of Cinderella, even with the greatest flight of imagination, we were compelled to 'cut her' and simply depend on the ugly sisters for our 'female' caste. We had a superabundant number of faces suitable for ugly sisters, and we had no difficulty in selecting our men, although the reason of election was not revealed to them.

We have given several shows to the 'boys' and they were received with enthusiasm and helped to pass away a few hours and keep our mind off Fritz occasionally during the festive season. I think it is only right to say that the boys who take part in the pantomime continue their duties as usual and rehearse their respective parts when off duty, and perhaps an hour before the show, may be miles away up the lines of communication."

Coventry Herald, Saturday 26 January 1918
found at www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk