Meet the Detectives

It's been a while, but I'm returning to London again - albeit the London of the late 19th Century.  Not since my epic journey through the canon of Sherlock Holmes have I attempted to unlock the past in such a way.  Last year I started recording some of the overlooked stories of detective fiction that had slipped through the cracks a bit.  I've read the complete Martin Hewitt, Investigator live last year online, and two of these are archived below.  For this show I'm doing two stories, one Martin Hewitt and one Horace Dorrington - which stories will be announced next month.  All the details are below - perhaps I'll see you there!

Milk Bottle Productions Presents
The Detectives of Arthur Morrison
Readings of Detective Mysteries from Martin Hewitt, Investigator & The Dorrington Deed-Box
Performed by award-winning storyteller Robert Crighton

Two classic stories by local author Arthur Morrison are brought to life in a live reading, from the producers of the acclaimed Complete Sherlock Holmes. Martin Hewitt was created as the antithesis to the famous Mr Holmes, an undemonstrative and jovial man whose detective practice is much more user friendly. Mr Dorrington couldn’t be more different – a hustler, con man and thief, he uses his detective skills to make as much money as possible and frequently at the expense of his ‘clients’. Two detectives, two completely different characters, one brilliant author.

Praise for Robert Crighton in THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES: Remotegoat ★★★★ Four stars! London Theatre Network ★★★★ Four stars! “... Crighton is an accomplished story teller... Immersive, enjoyable and cosy, you will leave the room with a satisfied smile on your face, as if you’ve just visited some old friends.” ★★★★ London Fringe Festival

Saturday 28th April at 7pm
Tickets: £6 / £5 Concessions – Pay on the Door
Venue: Loughton Baptist Church, 92 High Rd, Loughton IG10 4QU
Part of the Loughton Festival - www.loughtonfestival.org

Martin Hewitt, Investigator

Many years ago I did readings of the complete canon of Sherlock Holmes - the whole lot - as a series of readings during the last proper winter we had in the UK.  It didn't stop snowing during the run, and it hasn't really snowed since, so I can only conclude that climate change is connected with incidence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Or massive amounts of industrial pollution.  One of the two.
Anyway, I've not done anything similar since, but I've had a hankering to do more - though not Mr Holmes as he's a trademark and I refuse to pay money for work that is in the public domain.
That meant looking for a similarly dead, suitably dead, author - and Arthur Morrison sprung up before me.  Of the same sort of time and similar genre, he created two rather good detective characters, Martin Hewitt and Dorrington.  I would rather have started with Dorrington, a wonderfully psychopathic creation, but the narrator is Australian and that's a little beyond me at present.  I've put him to one side for a while and I think I might do a full cast audio adaptation of his stories later instead.  Suggestions on a postcard.  Martin Hewitt is much more suited to what I need at the moment, a good set of stories for performance that I can get cracking on straight away.  I intend to blog about each story as I release them, as there are lots of interesting things that emerge from this late Victorian world - little questions and quirks of language and phrasing that tickle my curiosity bone.
If you're a patron then you'll get the first story from Martin Hewitt, Investigator on Wednesday (if not, you'll have to wait, but it's easy to sign up for here).  It's called The Lenton Croft Robberies and features the mysterious appearance of burnt matches.  I've already recorded the second mystery, but I don't know when I will release that quite yet.

My work couldn't happen without the support of my patrons - if you think you could contribute to the work I create, go to www.patreon.com/robertcrighton and see if you can help - you get to listen to my new work before anyone else.  It's like audible, just cheaper and with no control over the content of your next listen. But you can download and keep my work forever.
Also, as there's a lot being planned at the moment, if you want to keep up to speed, why not join my mailing list.  I know, so last century. 

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