COMIC APPEAL OF `SHERLOCK' NO MYSTERY.

Byline: - Evan Henerson

RATHER amazingly, nobody utters the phrase ``The game's afoot!'' in ``Sherlock's Last Case,'' the half-tribute, half-spoof mystery by Charles Marowitz. Not that anyone ever needs to. Holmes, Dr. Watson, Inspector Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson utter practically everything else you'd expect these characters to say, particularly if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had possessed a sense of humor.

The game is very much afoot in the snappy production of ``Last Case'' directed by David Rose at the Colony Theatre. Devotees of Holmes and slick on-stage capers should take to Rose's production like a celebrated sleuth takes to a freshly pressed deerstalker.

That the Colony glides so easily between newer works, lesser-performed musicals and community theater staples is a tribute to the caliber of the company's work. ``Sherlock's Last Case'' is a popular, not especially challenging play that gets staged everywhere. Except for the Holmes archetypes, this production - with its arch tone and generous plot twists - could be a virtual remount of the Colony's recent mounting of Rupert Holmes' ``Accomplice.''

Even so, it's pretty darned delightful watching Time Winters and Louis Lotorto extract every bit of comic nectar out of stuffy, self-important Holmes and perpetual second banana Watson. Here's a Holmes and Watson who - despite the occasional push-pull friction of colleagues - very much deserve each other.

The stakes are high this time (as, indeed, when are they not?). The son of Holmes' deceased arch enemy Professor Moriarty is out for revenge, leading Sherlock to face a life-threatening challenge. The action shifts between the plush confines of 221 B Baker St. and a fog-drenched abandoned mill, both rendered with eye-popping elegance by scenic designer David Potts, who uses a revolving turntable to great effect.

There are redheads, red herrings and plenty of Marowitz wit. Best of all, there are Winters and Lotorto, who transform the theatrical equivalent of fast food into something resembling a gourmet meal.

SHERLOCK'S LAST CASE - Three stars

Where: Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third St., Burbank.

When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through July 10.

Tickets: $30 to $40. Call [phone] or visit www.colonytheatre.org

In a nutshell: Time Winters and Louis Lotorto ... you astonish me!