Portraying Sherlock Holmes onstage more than 1,300 times over 30 years, American actor-playwright William Gillette (1853–1937) did much to create the modern image of the detective, including deerstalker cap and curved pipe and the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” (originally, “Oh, this is elementary, dear fellow”). He was also known for his use of special sound and lighting effects and for building an elaborate castle for his home in East Haddam, Connecticut.
On Saturday, the East Haddam Stage Company — the featured theater company of Gillette Castle State Park — will be at the Jones Library in Amherst for a free presentation of “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Speckled Band,” a revival of Gillette’s 1930 “live-action” radio script based on the Conan Dolye story.
Complete with sound effects, audience participation and four actors portraying seven characters, the show begins at 2 p.m.