Zeya Fullerton, 13, takes on the role of Toby, a roguish street youth, who joins the Irregulars gang.
The play, by Brian Guerhing, is a zany take on the old classic.
It catches up with Arthur Conan Doyle’s great sleuth as he meets the ‘street urchins’ who become key to his underworld information in Victorian London.
"He's kind of this rough street urchin kind of dude and he is very critical of the main leader of the rough gang, because he thinks that he is better, I guess," Fullerton told The Chief, adding the role of Toby is "super fun" to play.
There are seven youth actors in the production.
The cast also includes Dovreshin MacRae, who plays Sherlock Holmes and Claire deBruyn as Dr. Watson.
El Cox plays Wiggins — a young character who very much wants to be Sherlock’s new assistant.
During the play, Wiggins and Holmes must learn to trust each other.
Ultimately, Wiggins and her group of Irregulars help Holmes solve two dangerous mysteries.
Fullerton, who attends Don Ross Middle School, saw an advertisement for actors for the play on Facebook and — being a Sherlock Holmes fan — applied.
Working on Zoom took some getting used to for all the cast.
"The whole over Zoom thing — the technology was hard to get used to, but now that I know what I am doing, it is really good."
There are advantages too, Fullerton said, including being able to put the script near the screen to refer to.
The young local actor, who hopes to have a career in the industry, started taking acting classes at eight years old with Act Alive.
"That has always been super fun," Fullerton said.
“It is always really fun for me — the whole dramatics of it: getting in costume, being backstage, looking over the crowd, it has always been an adrenaline thing, I guess.”
Theatre in the Country has been running shows online for the past year. This will be its 35th production since April 2020.
Tickets to Sherlock Holmes & the 1st Baker Street Irregular are pay-what-you-can from $10 and are available online at theatreinthecountry.com or by calling 604-257-9737.
The show runs May 7 and 8; showtime is 7:30 p.m. on Zoom.
Links are sent out to ticket holders 1.5 hours before showtime.
