THE Flanagan Collective are to mount their most ambitious show to date, an interactive, adventurous stage adaptation of Britain’s greatest detective stories, Sherlock Holmes, in York Guildhall, where the game's afoot from August 11 to September 21.

After making their mark with Coxwold writer Alexander Wright's "boutique musical plays" Some Small Love Story, Beulah and Babylon, the York Theatre Royal associate company has teamed up with Manchester producers Hartshorn-Hook for a six-week run of Wright's new work, Sherlock Holmes: A Working Hypothesis, before it heads off around the country.

The Flanagan Collective is assembling the same creative team behind their adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, a pub show that for the past three winters has brought an audience together over food, drink and party games.

Writer Wright and director Tom Bellerby were keen to apply these principals to another much-loved classic, but this time they have scaled up from the back room of a York pub to one of the city's most beautiful hidden rooms, the Guildhall's Council Chamber, where Damian Freddi's Nightshade Productions staged A Christmas Carol last winter and Theatre Mill presented Agatha Christie's Witness For The Prosecution in its first ever site-specific staging in April.

Instead of adapting an existing Sherlock Holmes story, Wright has drawn on elements of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works to develop a new adventure.

"We join Sherlock three years after the Reichenbach Falls, posing as a Professor of Criminology, giving a lecture on himself, the great detective and master of deduction," says the playwright. "Presumed dead by his closest friend Dr John Watson, the pair quickly reunite and hurtle headlong into a new mystery. Their arch-nemesis, Moriarty, is at large and ready for one final battle."

Commenting on the timing of his play, Wright says: "Sherlock has taken over our nation; it’s had a huge resurgence. I read the stories when I was younger but like many other people, I’m sure my interest was rekindled with the Guy Ritchie films and later the brilliant BBC versions. Now, I’ve read every Sherlock Holmes story I can get my hands on.

"Our version is about friendship and companionship, it’s about bringing people together to fix something rather than relying on other people and, of course, it’s about a good old mystery and adventure.There'll be riddles to solve, games to play and a treasure hunt, and the show also has a damn big sword fight and a free glass of wine, as well as opening up a space that’s not often used for theatre performances and that many people won’t have had the privilege of experiencing."

The project has initiated new partnerships in York, such as with the new Waterstones branch on Coney Street, which will host a series of Sherlock events, and the newly refurbished Gillygate pub,in where else but Gillygate, which will set up camp at the Guildhall to run a pre-show drinks reception 30 minutes before each performance. It also will provide a space for after-show drinks with the cast and production team each night back at the pub.

A cast of three will take on the roles of Holmes, Watson and Moriarty. Dominic Allen, a leading light of York company Belt Up Theatre and now studying at the Bristol Old Vic, will tackle the role of Sherlock and his fellow actors will be announced soon.

"Dominic is a master of improvisation and immersive theatre, sure to bring out the humour in the script and lead the show to its tense and thrilling conclusion," says Wright.

The director, Tom Bellerby, is Associate Artist at York company Pilot Theatre and worked in partnership with Wright previously to develop the Flanagan Collective’s hits Beulah and A Christmas Carol. He is joined in the production team by producer Brian Hook and designer Jane Stonestreet.

The Flanagan Collective and Hartshorn-Hook Productions, in association with York Theatre Royal, present Sherlock Holmes: A Working Hypothesis at the York Guildhall, St Helen's Square, York, from August 11 to September 21. Tickets: adults, £18; over 60s and under 25s, £16; under 16s, £14, on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Advisory age limit: ten plus.