New play about Sherlock Holmes plans to hit Broadway in 2017, penned by British writing duo

NEW YORK, N.Y. – It’s elementary, really. With all things Sherlock Holmes popular now, it’s no wonder that he’s coming to Broadway next.

Producers said Thursday that a play about the cunning detective will come to Broadway in 2017. Called “Sherlock Holmes,” it will be written by the British writing team of Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel.

It is being billed as an original tale offering “a new and deeply theatrical exploration of the mind of the famous detective, while remaining faithful to the mysterious world created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”

“Our version of Sherlock Holmes will have all the elements that fans want and expect, but with new twists and turns and plenty of surprises, which will take these amazingly complex and beloved characters to places they’ve never been,” said producer Antonio R. Marion in a statement. He’s producing alongside Kimberly Much.

More details, including casting, the creative team and theatre, will be announced later.

Doyle’s creation is everywhere these days: There are two TV series — “Sherlock” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and “Elementary” with Jonny Lee Miller — and Ian McKellen has been announced as an elderly Holmes in the upcoming movie “A Slight Trick of the Mind.” Robert Downey Jr. has also been playing the sleuth in a film franchise.

The last time Holmes was front-and-centre on Broadway was in 1974, when John Wood garnered a Tony nomination for the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Sherlock Holmes,” a revival of the 1899 drama by Conan Doyle and William Gillette.

Wagstaff and Abel wrote the radio drama “When I Lost You” in Britain. Wagstaff has adapted Sebastian Faulks’ bestselling novel “Birdsong” for the West End, while Abel’s first novel was “The Way Home.”