Acadia Rep has a nose for mystery> Lead adds right mix to ‘Sherlock Holmes’

Sherlock Holmes can sniff your whole day off you.

Been smoking a cigar? Been walking in the rain? Had lunch with your wife?

He’s onto it.

And so is David Wilson Barnes, who plays the tweedy sleuth in Acadia Repertory Theatre’s production of “Sherlock Holmes, or a Scandal in Bohemia,” playing through Aug. 23 in Somesville. Barnes is a newcomer to Acadia this summer, and has proved himself a sharp addition to the company. It would be tricky to judge which of his performances (Ronald in “Absurd Person Singular,” two stylized roles in “The Miser” and now Holmes) has been his best. They have all been expertly crafted and amusing, and he’s the type of actor who pulls a cast up.

It’s safe to say, however, that Barnes’ work as Holmes has a special quality to it. He’s smart and energetic, but never oversteps the character’s quirky combination of charm and efficiency. In less capable hands, Holmes could become a caricature. With Barnes, Holmes is both superhuman and human. When he’s onstage, it’s as if a spotlight follows him.

In Barnes’ absence, Alan Gallant, as the villianous Professor Moriarty, causes a substantial counter-spark. Gallant is gaunt, ashen and malignantly malicious. He’s like the larger-than-life bad guy in a comic strip, and he pulls it off convincingly and beguilingly. The audience, entirely captivated by Gallant’s eerie entrance, hissed with delightful repulsion when he finally was poised onstage.

These two performances are standouts among a cast that works to greater or lesser degrees in this melodrama. The physical look of this production is bold, but the actors are sometimes clumsy and stiff, which can cheapen a moment.

Nevertheless, Steve Robbins is a gamesome Watson, and Kristen E. Williams is lissomely dashing as Irene Adler. As with several cast members, Robbins and Williams are having bad makeup days for this show, and that’s unfortunate, but never gets much bigger than a distraction.

Also present in a most dynamic way is director Ken Stack, a Holmesophile who adapted the script from short stories as well as a play by William Gillette. He produced it at Acadia in 1981 to rave reviews, and has revived it because everybody loves Sherlock Holmes, especially in summer.

Stack knows what works as intrigue and then pushes it to the limit. He calls attention to the storybook quality of the event by doing freeze frames throughout the production. It’s as if you are both reading the story and seeing illustrations of important moments. Intensified lighting and the ding of a small bell lock these moments in time.

Stack uses the stage to unusual effect for this show. Acadia rarely employs the curtain in a show, but this time, it hides a most surprising set that transforms from Holmes’ claustrophobic room on Baker Street, to a spooky sitting room, to Moriarty’s underground gas chamber. The actors double as technical staff to make these changes happen smoothly, and even won a hefty round of applause for their carefully timed choreography and impressive handiwork.

Most of what Stack has done is terribly fun to watch. Although it is faithful to Arthur Conan Doyle’s worldly ways, it also has both a Dickensian dankness and a superhero grandiosity. The only fizzle-out point takes place in the final scenes, when Holmes comes face to face with a possible love interest. But, alas, there’s no real place for a romance in this genre.

Otherwise, “Sherlock Holmes” is a hearty Victorian romp through the streets of London, where the nose of the world’s greatest detective can smell a clue a mile away.

“Sherlock Holmes” will be presented at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday through Aug. 22 and 2 p.m. Aug. 23 at Acadia Repertory Theatre in Somesville. For tickets, call 244-7260.