Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Inside the auditorium, the gothic atmosphere permeated The Grange Playhouse as the audience, observing the dark set on the stage, waited for the play to start. The clever set design by Rebecca Holmes-Mears, the director, enhanced the gothic nature of the story and took us from location to location with the changes swiftly executed and often accompanied by atmospheric sound (attributed to Colin Mears). The lighting too (designed by Stan Vigurs), added greatly to the mood of this play. The set transformed effortlessly between dark 1880’s London; to a house in the country; to Dr Jekyll’s drawing room; to his laboratory, where the door was painted a foreboding blood red. The sparsely furnished rooms and cavernous auditorium left much of the tension and mystery to be created by the performers themselves and they achieved this very well. Costumes of the Victorian era were most appropriate and perfectly in keeping.

Dr Jekyll (Dominic Holmes) is a respected physician and chemist, but his close friends and colleagues, Gabriel Utterson (Sam Evans) and Dr H. Lanyon (Neil Horne) begin to question the direction of his scientific research and his close association with Mr Hyde. Secretly Dr Jekyll has discovered a chemical that can unleash his dark side in the guise of the sinister Hyde. Now able to transform himself at will, he roams the streets of London as his monstrous alter ego, spreading fear and evil across the city. Dr Jekyll, the master of his own fate, soon discovers his double life comes at a hideous price.

The essence of the story was dependent on the actor playing Jekyll and, in this case, Dominic Holmes, an experienced actor, was more than capable of conveying two sides of the character’s personality, both the respectable Dr Henry Jekyll  and the forbidding, cruel, violent, Scotsman, Edward Hyde releasing brutality on those unfortunate enough to cross his path. As the personality of Mr Hyde began to take control, Dominic visibly demonstrated with great energy and physicality, the torment of the situation which built to a powerful and tense final scene. Dominic gave a fine performance in this very demanding role throughout the length of the play, His portrayal of dual roles and playing the leading role showing the brutality of the violent Hyde was superb, well-staged indeed. Without opportunity for makeup or costume change he transformed into grotesque created by caricature alone.

In the first half of this play we meet Dr Jekyll appearing in friendly discussion with his sister, Katherine (Claire Parker) and her children Lucy (Louisa Vance), and Charles, (Zo Fryer). The children are played by adults in this case. Stephanie Evans was outstanding as the new maid with a history of abuse, Annie Loder. Whilst this served to provide Jekyll with a family background and back story, too much time was spent in Act 1 in exposition explaining the background, developing the relationship between Jekyll and his sister, or debating between Jekyll, Utterson and Lanyon the workings of the body and mind. The second half was a distinct improvement on the dry nature of the first with the audience observing explicitly the full extent of Hyde’s violence first witnessed in the brutal murder of Danvers Carew.

Alan Lowe in role as Poole, the butler, provided much needed lightness to the heavy melodrama with some sarcasm. His subtle performance was one of the highlights of the play, powerlessly commenting on the unfolding tragedy and fiercely loyal to Dr Jekyll. Alan portrayed this role brilliantly with dry humour and withering facial expressions.

Equally well, the character of Annie was played by Stephanie Evans. The maid who progressed from Katherine’s household to Jekyll’s. She was an enquiring maid with a soft voice, who later became another victim of Hyde. Stephanie accurately showed the character’s charm, her resolution, and her vulnerability with conviction.

Katherine was admirably played by Claire Parker, from whom we discover that the source of Jekyll’s dark knowledge is their father’s alchemic experimentation. Sam Evans delivered the part of Utterson with ease and an air of authority. He depicted this character to be staunchly upright and couldn’t believe anything wrong of Jekyll even when facts pointed otherwise. Other credible male support roles include Gabriel Campbell’s portrayal of Richard Enfield, and Neil Horne who played Dr Hastie Lanyon so perfectly. Congratulations must go to all the cast, those in central roles and those in minor roles, including Kathryn Vance, Harry Parker and Dale Roberts. This was a huge cast of twelve, who each contributed to telling a simple tale to illustrate the complexities of the mind but with all the atmospheric trappings of this Victorian Gothic horror story.

Congratulations to the director, Rebecca for successfully bringing this gothic melodrama to the stage and successfully creating the dark sinister world on the edge of London Society that Mr Hyde inhabited. Thank you for inviting me to your performance.

 

 

 

 

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