Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA, will present Steve Canny and John Nicholson's zany adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes tale Sept. 18-Nov. 8. Artistic director Tony Simotes directs.

According to S&Co., "It is truly a wild and woolly romp that takes one of the most popular Sherlock Holmes tales and ruins it — umm, we mean, turns it inside out — stuffing it with endless laughs as it barrels forward at a breakneck pace, all the while daring the audience to hold on tight with both hands. This madcap adventure is great for the Sherlock Holmes novices, and will be only mildly offensive to the hardcore purists…we hope."

The Hound of the Baskervilles (which emerged in 2006-07 in the U.K.) will howl in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre. Opening is Sept. 26.

Jonathan Croy, Josh Aaron McCabe and Ryan Winkles are the three actors "who breathlessly play all 16 characters as they run from scene to scene, changing costumes and sets (and towels) along the way."

Sir Arthur's cherished novel concerns "an aristocratic British family which is terrorized, generation upon generation, by a spectral hound intent on killing all the male heirs. The great detective Sherlock Holmes sends his trusted sidekick Watson to the appropriately eerie countryside to investigate, while he observes in disguise." The production team includes set designer Jim Youngerman, lighting designer Steve Ball, costume designer Govane Lohbauer and sound designer Michael Pfeiffer.

For more information call (413) 637-3353 or visit www.shakespeare.org.

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Shakespeare & Company had a hit with its American premiere of The Secret of Sherlock Holmes in 2007, drawing Sherlock devotees from far and wide and even hatching a three-day "Sherlock Weekend" filled with Victorian-themed events and presentations from some of the leading experts on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works.