Sherlock's Last Case, Huntington Theatre Company, Avenue of the Arts & South End, Boston, through October 28. 617-933-8600, 617-266-0800 or bostontheatrescene.com

Sherlock Holmes fans know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off his famous super sleuth in the tale called "The Final Problem." Readers of the famous fictional adventures especially know that great public demand led Doyle to bring the legendary detective back to life in the story "The Adventure of the Empty House" with the explanation that he had faked his own death.

The late theater critic and Holmes aficionado Charles Marowitz was clearly so addicted to Holmes—and who is not?—that he tried his own hand at a stage parody entitled "Sherlock's Last Case"(1984; 1987 on Broadway). The result is a clever take-off that would not quite impress the likes of the villainous Moriarty but does prove diverting on the Huntington Theatre main stage under the generally sharp direction of Maria Aitken.

Doyle had killed off Moriarty , too, of course. There is no second life here for the iconic villain, but two Moriartys—one by letter and one in person—do arrive to challenge Holmes. The letter—complete with a vivid hornet metaphor and apparently from son Simeon Moriarty—promises revenge for his father's death.

Daughter Liza Moriarty asks Holmes to reason with her brother. Marowitz injects humor bordering on the absurd early on as Liza informs the always inquisitive detective that her father trained her to use carrier pigeons to deliver mail. There is witty banter here and elsewhere, though there are moments when the playwright needs to articulate Holmes' signature eccentricities without making him seem too coldly rational.

As always, Watson is contrastingly emotional. Marowitz colors that emotion with significant resentment about his Baker Street buddy's display of superiority with regard to the solutions of their adventures. At one point Watson edgily speaks of "the myth of Sherlock Holmes."

Hugh Landwehr's painstaking scenic design for the famed 221 Baker Street, London residence of Holmes—and Watson's except during the latter's married years—richly provides the tale's 1897 Victorian England ambiance.

If there are occasional moments when the early going could do with faster pacing, Huntington Theatre's trademark seamless set changes—here to a dark, dank and ominous dungeon and back to the sleuth's home—do a lot to make things move.

Soon enough an unusual development ensues. Quite simply a surprising captor has gagged and bound a very unlikely captive in a dentist's chair. Eventually expert knowledge about chemicals will prove a key factor in the liberation of that prisoner.

Are the Moriartys involved? Will Inspector Lestrade—who seems to be even less of a player here than in many of Doyle's own tales—play an important part in the resolution of the case? Where will Holmes and Watson be in all of this? Marowitz's revelations lack the haunting qualities of a Doyle gem like "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," but they do supply the necessary answers. This critic, of course, never provides spoilers about any of those answers.

One answer safe to provide is that Aitken's cast is first-rate. Rufus Collins has the right self-confidence and heightened attitude playing Holmes. Mark Zeisler is a standout capturing Dr. Watson's seething inferiority complex vis-à-vis Holmes and his gradual personality breakout. Their buddy moments are fully convincing.

Antoinette Robinson charms as the savvy yet somewhat reserved Liza. Robinson and Collins' early banter about her case has the right elegance. Antonio Benoit Sturn brings the right menace to the role of Simeon. Malcolm Ingram catches Lestrade's relative cluelessness. Philip S. Rosenberg's nuanced lighting has the right muted light for the dungeon scenes.

In the later going, Watson is dubbed Sir John and Holmes Lord Sherlock. "Sherlock's Last Case" may not invite real honor, but Aitken and her stellar cast make the Huntington Theatre revival a lively romp.