2015

• January 16 - February 22   Baskerville  The play’s afoot at Arena Stage's Kreeger Theatre! From Washington's own Tony Award-winning mastermind of mayhem, Ken Ludwig, comes Baskerville, a fast-paced comedy as our favorite detective solves his most notorious case. Watch as Holmes and Watson try to escape a dizzying web of clues, silly accents, disguises and deceit as five actors deftly portray more than 25 characters. Join the fun and see how far from elementary the truth can be. NOTE: The Red Circle will hold a gala theatre party to see Baskerville on Saturday, January 31. The matinee will begin at 2:00 pm, and an optional post-show gathering to eat, drink and review the performance is being arranged. Watch this space for discount ticket information for this performance.

• March 10  Reservations are due for the Red Circle's March 13 meeting
• March 13  Red Circle dinner meeting
• April 10 - 12  221bCon   This fan con for all things Sherlock Holmes will convene for the third time in Atlanta. The event has become very popular very quickly, especially among younger Sherlockians. But the organizers point out that there's always something for everybody. For example, the specialty cocktails at the hotel bar will include "The Blue Carbuncle" and "The Twisted Lip." See all the details at the 221bCon website.
• May 1 - 3  Malice Domestic 27  Held at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, the site of our own Red Circle dinners, Malice Domestic is the place to be if traditional mysteries are your cup of tea. Always great fun, with good authors and nice people. Check their website for updated information.
• June 12 - 13 A Scintillation of Scions VIII  The eighth edition of this popular Sherlockian gathering will be held at the Sheraton Baltimore-Washington Hotel near BWI Airport. Registration details and other information will be posted here as we get it.

For a much more comprehensive list of Sherlockian meetings and events around the United States and beyond, see Ron Fish's

Sherlockian Calendar.

Baskerville trailer released  Take a peek at what's in store at Arena Stage when Ken Ludwig's Baskerville invades the Kreeger Theater starting January 16 (see opposite column). See the trailer here.

Dan Stashower Scores Second Hat Trick   Washington writer, Sherlockian and Red Circle member Dan Stashower has won a third major prize for his book The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War. The Anthony Award, presented at Bouchercon in Long Beach in mid-November goes on the shelf along with the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar and Malice Domestic's Agatha awards. Dan's first trifecta was for Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters in 2008. Congratulations Dan!

Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal in Klinger case  In a one sentence ruling on November 3, the US Supreme Court declined to hear the Conan Doyle Estate's appeal in the copyright suit brought by Les Klinger. The judgment has the effect of upholding Klinger's contention and the decisions of two lower courts that the 50 Sherlock Holmes stories published before 1923 are in the public domain and not subject to rights payments to the estate. The copyrights on the remaining ten stories will expire over the next decade.

Meeting Notes from the Red Circle's September 19 meeting are available here.

The Bear Facts  Paddington Bear, the charming mascot of the West London railway terminus of the same name, will star in his own feature film for the holidays. To mark the occasion, no fewer than 50 statues are popping up around the city, each featuring Paddington in a different guise and each sponsored by an actor or other public figure. Naturally, Sherlock Paddington bears the imprimatur of Benedict Cumberbatch. We suspect that Sherlock Paddington will find a place somewhere in Marylebone, and why not? Baker Street is just three short stops from Paddington station on the Bakerloo Line. If you have two minutes, a look at the trailer for Paddington is a fine, laugh-out-loud way to spend them. Watch it here.

A large scale map, I presume?  London graphic designer Dex, in collaboration with interior designer Anna  Burles, has created what may be the ultimate Wordle: a very clever Literary Map of London. It's both a snapshot of the city's literary history and a brilliantly executed graphic, with Holmes and Watson given proper emphasis and pride of place. In fact, the artist took pains to plot all the literary legends in the corners of the city they most liked to roam or chose to call home. You can view a larger version of the map here, and you can buy your own silk screened, signed and numbered copy here and here.

A Match Made in Baker Street?  Your webmaster is occasionally given to mindless web surfing, which recently yielded a list of "niche" dating sites. Some of them are fascinating. You can sign up to find your match at sites called Ugly Schmucks. . .Equestrian Cupid. . .Amish Dating. . .Darwin Dating (don't ask!). . .DiaperMates (please don't ask!). . .Singles with Food Allergies. . .Farmers Only. . .STD Match, and so on. Two of the sites are especially interesting: TrekMatch and VamPersonals. If there are online dating setups for Trekkies and vampires, could there be one for Sherlockians? Further investigation was in order, and while we couldn't find a Sherlockian dating site per se, the outfit called OkCupid features not one but two Sherlock Holmes quizzes, designed to get folks together based on their Sherlockian savvy. Whether or not you're in the market for a date, you might want to take the quizzes here and here. 

Discount tickets for Baskerville   Naturally, we hope many of you will take part in our January 31 theatre party to see Ken Ludwig's Baskerville at Arena Stage (details to appear here soon), but for those who are unable to, Arena is offering us a 20% discount for select performances between January 16 and January 25. To get the discount you'll need to use the code SHERLOCK at Arena's website (click here), over the phone at 202-488-3300, or in person at the Arena box-office.

Did You Ever Hear a Statue Talking? Well, I Did   If you're outside the Baker Street tube stop in London anytime soon and see people gazing at the famous John Doubleday statue of Sherlock Holmes, don't be surprised if they have their smartphones to their ears. They're not only looking at Holmes, they're listening to him too, thanks to "Talking Statues," a project of the arts organization Sing London. The Holmes effigy is one of more than 30 London and Manchester monuments that will now give you an earful as well as an eyeful. It takes just the tap of the smartphone on a special pad next to the statue, and the phone will ring and entertain you with a two-minute message. The script for the Holmes discourse was written by the prolific author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz and voiced by actor Ed Stoppard. There's no charge for tapping in to the musings of any of the statues. The New York Times reports that more than 6,500 people lent their ears during the project's first two weeks alone, with the statues of Sherlock Holmes and Peter Pan topping the popularity charts.

• Scuttlebutt: One Fixed Point in a Changing Age  Our own Peter Blau's monthly Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press has endured for more than four decades, and has a permanent home right here on our website. It's the most remarkable collection of Sherlockian news and notes anywhere, and your webmaster recommends a monthly visit. The very latest edition is available now, as are past numbers. It's just a click away--use the "Scuttlebutt" button at the top of the page.

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