The Game is Afoot

This year’s 8th grade class play, Baskerville, is one of those rare performances where you genuinely forget you are watching middle school students. To find their killer, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson must unravel a tangled mystery before a family curse claims its newest heir… but the real marvel is watching seven students leap, spin, disguise, accent-shift, and transform their way through more than 40 wildly distinct characters.

And the ACCENTS. Truly. Every single character somehow arrives with their own voice, posture, rhythm, and personality, all executed with astonishing commitment and comedic timing. One moment a student is a nervous English butler, the next a frantic villager, a suspicious doctor, or a swaggering Texan heir to the Baskerville fortune. Head of School Kim Richardson, who spent time living in Tennessee, was delighted (and genuinely surprised!) to discover that the heir’s Texas drawl was, in fact, entirely theatrical.

The students committed themselves to this production with extraordinary energy, precision, and courage, and it showed in every second on stage.

Bravo to our incredible 8th graders and co-directors Ms. Hughes and Mr. McAllen and all who helped bring this delightfully dizzying mystery to life.