Shakespeare meets Sherlock Holmes in a new short play to be performed at Undershaw (right), the former Hindhead home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Edward Howard, the author of a series of Sherlock Holmes stories written as Orlando Pearson, turns Macbeth into a whodunnit in his drama, A Scandal of Alba.

The play will be performed by The Baker Street Players at Undershaw, now restored and home to Stepping Stones special needs school, from 7.30pm on Saturday, October 12.

It will be followed on the night by ‘deductionist’ Ben Cardall demonstrating his mind magic, interviews with Orlando Pearson and fellow Sherlock Holmes author Dan Victor, plus a guided tour of the house.

The event is being held to raise money for school improvements.

Edward said: “I was at the opening of Undershaw in September 2016 and I was moved and remain moved by the worthiness of the cause. I think that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have been thrilled by the use being made of his old house and having my Holmesian play performed there is a dream come true for me.

“My works are published by MX Publishing and a share of the sales goes to Stepping Stones. MX has raised over £40,000 for this project. It was while at Undershaw that Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles.

“Making extensive use of material by both Conan Doyle and Shakespeare, I pose the question in my play of whether Macbeth really murdered his predecessor on the Scottish throne, King Duncan, or whether the true killer was actually someone else.

“The killing of Duncan takes place off-stage and so is not seen by the audience. Once they have seen my play, theatre goers will question what they thought they knew about Macbeth. I expect in the long term my work will oust Shakespeare’s from the repertoire.”

* To book tickets go to: http://bit.ly/sherlockshakespeare