City Lit will celebrate the holidays with the world premiere production of John Weagly’s SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CHRISTMAS CLOWNS, a mystery adapted from the short story "The Flying Stars" by G.K. Chesterton and the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This new play will continue City Lit’s 19-year history with the legendary detective, from 2006’s & 2014’s HOLMES AND WATSON, 2015’s THE SEVEN PER-CENT SOLUTION, through 2007’s & 2019’s THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor will direct this special holiday production. SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CHRISTMAS CLOWNS will open to the press on Sunday, December 14 following previews on December 13 and 14, and play through January 4, 2026.
Weagly, co-author/adapter of the popular holiday play SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE CHRISTMAS GOOSE, crafted this new Holmes mystery from G.K. Chesterton’s short story “The Flying Stars,” which originally appeared in THE SATURDAY EVENING POST in 1911. The story was one of 53 stories Chesterton wrote about Father Brown - a fictional priest who was an amateur detective. Weagly’s play replaces Father Brown with Holmes as the detective seeking to locate three missing precious jewels stolen during a pantomime performed by the guests of a holiday party in the English countryside. The play includes traditional British carols sung by a four-person chorus, with occasional tweaks to the lyrics to comment on the story.
Returning for the fourth time each as the legendary duo of deductive reasoning are James Sparling as Holmes and Adam Bitterman as Watson. The two have played the sleuths in all the above-mentioned City Lit Sherlock Holmes plays since 2014. Beyond Sherlock Holmes, Sparling’s many other roles at City Lit include his Jeff-nominated Thomas Becket in 2024’s MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL, and Goldberg in 2023’s THE BIRTHDAY PARTY. Just this fall, Sparling played Inspector Rough in GASLIGHT for Oil Lamp Theatre. Bitterman’s recent performances on Chicago stages include playing Otto Frank in THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK for Young Peoples’ Theatre of Chicago, and Arnold Drake in City Lit’s THE MARK OF KANE.
Other cast principals include Mark Mendelsohn (WAR OF THE WORLDS at Lifeline) as Colonel Adams, the party host; Courtney Abbott (BERNHARDT/HAMLET with Edge of the Woods) as Jemma Blount, the colonel’s sister-in-law; Betsy Pennington-Taylor (HAY FEVER at City Lit) as the wealthy Lady Gabriella; Manny Sevilla (THE CHRISTIANS at Citadel Theatre) as the neighbor John Crook, who is romantically interested in Adams’ daughter Ruby; and Sophia Vitello (City Lit’s THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD) as Ruby. Appearing in the chorus are Maggie Cain (City Lit’s THIRTEEN DAYS), David Fink (City Lit’s THE BIRTHDAY PARTY), Alex George (City Lit’s R.U.R. (ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS)), and Bruce Holtman (Theo Ubique’s THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS).
Top Row L-R: Courtney Abbott, Adam Bitterman, Maggie Cain, Dave Fink, Alex George, Bruce Holtman
Bottom Row L-R: Mark Mendelsohn, Betsy Pennington-Taylor, Manny Sevilla, James Sparling, Sophia Vitello
The production team includes Jeremiah Barr (Scenic Design), Liz Cooper (Lighting Design), kClare McKellaston (Costume Design), Mary McCormack (Music Director), Carrie Hardin (Dialect Coach), and Hazel Marie Flowers-Mc Cabe (Stage Manager).
Tickets for SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CHRISTMAS CLOWNS are $28 for all performances, or $20 for City Lit subscribers; Seniors $23, Students and Military $15.and are on sale now at www.citylit.org or by phone at 773-293-3682. City Lit Theater is located on the second floor of the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago.
LISTING INFORMATION
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CHRISTMAS CLOWNS
Adapted by John Weagly from "The Flying Stars" by G.K. Chesterton and the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Directed by Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor
World Premiere
December 12, 2025-January 4, 2026
Previews December 12 - 13
Press Opening Sunday, December 14 at 3 pm
Regular run December 14, 2025-January 4, 2026
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm.
Tickets: $28 for all performances, or $20 for City Lit subscribers; Seniors $23, Students and Military $15.
Tickets available online at www.citylit.org or by phone at 773-293-3682.
All performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, on the second floor (accessible via elevator) of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson travel to the country to spend the holidays with an old army comrade of Watson’s. What they don’t know is that one of the other guests at this English manor is a notorious international thief. When a priceless present is stolen during a Christmas pantomime, can Sherlock discover the culprit before the curtain falls? Carols, courtship and comedy bring cheer to the cold winter in this holiday treat.
BIOS
John Weagly (Playwright) has had over 100 plays receive over 200 productions by theaters on four continents. A collection of his short sci-fi/fantasy scripts, TINY FLIGHTS OF FANTASY, has been taught at Columbia College. Other short plays have been collected in THE JUGGLER WHO LOST HIS ARMS IN A RODEO FIRE & OTHER PLAYS and VAGABOND PLAYS. His adaptation SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE CHRISTMAS GOOSE has been produced around the world. Also a short story writer, LOCUS Magazine once compared his short fiction to the works of Ray Bradbury, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman and called him “a new writer worth reading and following.” His stories about former pro-wrestler Buster Bash have been nominated for the Derringer Award multiple times and have won the Norumbega Award. You can find more of his stories in the collections THE UNDERTOW OF SMALL TOWN DREAMS and DANCING IN THE KNEE-DEEP MIDNIGHT and in the novella ALLIGATOR AUTOPSY.
Brian Pastor (they/them, Executive Artistic Director) is a trans/non-binary director, actor, playwright, and Jeff Award-winning producer (AUGUST WILSON’S SEVEN GUITARS), and the Executive Artistic Director of City Lit Theater. Brian previously spent ten and a half years on staff at City Lit, including nine as Managing Director. From 2019 to 2024, Brian served as City Lit’s Resident Director, where they directed THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, ARMS AND THE MAN, J.B., and their own acclaimed adaptation of Robert Kennedy’s THIRTEEN DAYS. Most recently, Brian directed the World Premiere of Bo Lists R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) and the Chicago Premiere of Reina Hardy's GLASSHEART. Brian is a founder and Emeritus Artistic Director of Chicago’s Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where they directed THE LION IN WINTER, THE WINTER’S TALE, and GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE (all Broadway World Award Nominated- Best Director), as well as HENRY V and THE DARK SIDE OF THE BARD. Brian also directed the world premiere of THE BLACK KNIGHT by Angeli Primlani, the inaugural show for Lifeboat Productions. As an actor, Brian has worked with Strawdog, Raven, WildClaw, Promethean, Accomplice, and City Lit, among others. Brian is the former Executive Director of Sideshow Theatre and the former Executive Director of Raven Theatre. They also served as a board and company member of The Mime Company and as a founding company member of Chicago dell’Arte. A Pittsburgh native, Brian has called Chicago home since their graduation from Northwestern University in 2003.
ABOUT CITY LIT THEATER COMPANY
City Lit is the eighth oldest continuously operating theatre company in Chicago, behind only Goodman, Court, Northlight, Oak Park Festival, Black Ensemble Theatre, Steppenwolf, and Pegasus theatres. It was founded in 1979 with $210 pooled by Arnold Aprill, David Dillon, and Lorell Wyatt. For its current season, its 45th, it operates with a budget around $250,000. It was the first theatre in the nation devoted to stage adaptations of literary material. There were so few theatres in Chicago at the time of its founding that at City Lit’s launch event, the founders were able to read a congratulatory letter they had received from Tennessee Williams.
For four decades and counting, City Lit has explored fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoirs, songs, essays and drama in performance. A theatre that specializes in literary work communicates a commitment to certain civilizing influences—tradition imaginatively explored, a life of the mind, trust in an audience’s intelligence—that not every cultural outlet shares.
City Lit is located in the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church building at 1020 West Bryn Mawr Avenue. Its work is supported in part by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events CityArts program. An Illinois not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt organization, City Lit keeps ticket prices below the actual cost of producing plays and depends on the support of those who share its belief in the beauty and power of the spoken written word.