I received the Complete Sherlock Holmes in the 8th grade and have read the whole cannon at least 10 times across 40 years and followed tv series and movies, so I know my Sherlock. The technique of mixing elements from different Holmes stories (used in the excellent BBC series Sherlock), was attempted with this play, but definitely failed. Holmes was miscast, mis-costumed (his coat was beige, thick, and nothing like the Sherlock Holmes classic!) and spoke in arch affected tones that made him hard to comprehend. Instead of the beloved lean, intense, piercingly intelligent and idiosyncratic Holmes, this Holmes seemed foppish, giggly, was shorter than Watson, and rather plump. The device of casting Moriarty as a kind of Mephistopheles was cute, but ultimately meaningless. The staging was brilliant and interesting, but the comedy was weak and full of tiresome puns, the plot was convoluted, and "un-mysterious"-- there was nothing that made me even care who was murdered, or why. My companion and I said we were sorry for the children in the audience for whom the play must have been bewildering, as there would have been nothing similar to the Sherlock Holmes they might have read or seen...the play might have been mildly entertaining to a person who knew nothing about Sherlock Holmes....