Sherlock Holmes and Watson are lesbians in this 'queer, feminist' adaptation of the classic play
The production portrays Sherlock Holmes and John Watson as 'oddball female roommates' through a 'feminist lens.'
Guest director Emily Rollie told Campus Reform the adaptation is 'delightful in the way it plays with gender and the often heteronormative, patriarchal tropes of mystery stories.'
Students at the University of Wisconsin are partaking in a modern-day play adaptation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in which the iconic male characters are depicted as lesbians.
The school’s theatre and drama department is putting on a production called, Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson — APT. 2B, a play that “re-examines the world’s most famous detective with a bold new feminist lens.” The show premiered in July and will return again from Sept. 14-24 at UW’s Ronald E. Mitchell Theatre in Madison.
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In an Instagram post, the UW School of Education promoted the play as a “queer, feminist [adaptation] of the classic Sherlock Holmes.”
“In this highly theatrical, small-cast escapade, oddball female roommates Sherlock (yes, it’s also a girl’s name—wait, is it a girl’s name? Is it even a name?) Holmes & Joan Watson join forces to emerge from pandemic fog as a deeply codependent, quasi-dysfunctional Odd Couple adventure duo—solving mysteries and kicking butts,” an event description states.
Another show web page characterizes Holmes and Watson as “Female-Identifying.” Created by playwright Kate Hamill, the show is described as “Cheerfully desecrating the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”
According to her website, Kate Hamill writes “new feminist, female-centered classics, both in new plays and in adaptation - stories that center around complicated women.“
The UW guest director Emily Rollie, who specializes in “feminist theatre,” told Campus Reform that this adaptation of the production is “delightful in the way it plays with gender and the often heteronormative, patriarchal tropes of mystery stories.”
The performance even includes a post-COVID-19 setting in which “the stress and anxiety of working during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic left her [Dr. Joan Watson] traumatized,” as reported by The Daily Cardinal.
“Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson — APT. 2B is just the latest example of woke liberals manipulating art into their, quite frankly, boring and simplistic view of the world,” UW student Jonathan Draeger stated when asked about the show.
”These people are not making great art. They have a singular message: minorities must fight back against the evil oppression of patriarchy.’
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Over the next academic year, the Department of Theatre and Drama within the School of Education will showcase four shows, including Orlando, in which the titular character “[travels] the world, through time, changing from man to woman.”
Campus Reform contacted the University of Wisconsin, the UW Theatre and Drama Department, and Kate Hamill for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
