Full Cast Announced for Mysterious Circumstances at the Geffen Playhouse

May 16, 2019 —The Geffen Playhouses today announced the full cast for Mysterious Circumstances (June 11 — July 14). The cast features Hugo Armstrong (God of Carnage, Bleed Rail) as The American and others, Austin Durant (War Horse, You Can’t Take It With You) as Conan Doyle and others, Leo Marks (Hamlet, The Hothouse) as Smith and others, Ramiz Monsef (Guards at the Taj, Archduke) as Watson and others, Helen Sadler(Photograph 51, One Man, Two Guv’nors) as Touie others and Emmy Award nominee Alan Tudyk (Spamalot, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Richard Lancelyn Green and Sherlock Holmes

Inspired by The New Yorker article Mysterious Circumstances: The Strange Death of a Sherlock Holmes Fanatic by David Grann, the play centers around the true story of the mysterious death of Richard Lancelyn Green, the world’s foremost scholar on Sherlock Holmes. After spending two decades searching for the missing papers of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Green came close to unlocking the secrets behind Holmes’ creator when he tracked down Conan Doyle’s youngest daughter who possessed the treasured archives that were intended to be donated to the British Library upon her death.

After her passing in 1997, however, the papers were divided and put up for auction by distant relatives to Conan Doyle’s estate. Determined not to let these important historical documents disappear, Green led a very public campaign to keep these papers out of the hands of private collectors. As the campaign wore on, Green began hinting to his closest friends and family that he was receiving threats and being followed. What happened next remains a mystery to this day.

What is fact and what is fiction? With multiple suspects and competing motives, Green’s death raises questions that may be answered only by Homes himself in a new play inspired by the true story of these Mysterious Circumstances.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION

Written and adapted for stage by Michael Mitnick (Fly by Night, The Siegel) and directed by Matt Shakman (Bad Jews, Wait Until Dark, Good People), Mysterious Circumstances makes its world premiere June 11 — July 14, and marks the final production of Shakman’s first year as Artistic Director of the Geffen Playhouse.

Theatrical magic plays a featured role in this production with scenic design by Brett J. Banakis (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and illusion design by world-renown magicians Francis Menotti and David Kwong.