Theatre Review: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
A St Andrews Musical Theatre Society and On the Rocks Production
16/3/24 - 17/3/24
Directed by Abigail Harper
Produced by Lucy Callaghan
Written by Leslie Bricusse (adapted from Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Reviewed by Noor Zohdy
Upon a stage framed with eerie Victorian street-lights, brought to life with perfect period costuming, haunting choral harmonies, and passionate, unforgettable characters ─ sombre, passionate, and bleak – St Andrews Musical Theatre Society’s production of Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde was magnificently unsettling, an exquisitely Gothic experience.
The lighting of the production was one of its most inspired features. Shifting spotlights and flashing moments during scenes of intensity made the musical a thrilling, haunting spectacle, bringing the stage brilliantly to life. Indeed, lighting was central to one of the most unforgettable moments of the musical. As Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde (James McNinch) violently contended with himself, Jekyll would shine brightly in white lighting which would, in the blink of an eye, switch to a glaring red light, projected from behind him, casting a horrifying red shadow upon the curtain that gave the eerie responses of Hyde a powerful, undeniable reality. The musical was shot through with a thrilling, riotous pace and a keen suspense that held throughout. The music and choreography was impressively done; tight, synchronous, and effortless, not a moment of the musical felt displaced. It all felt, tragically, unstoppably, inevitable.
Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde (James McNinch) was highly impressive. He was able to execute the difficult task of balancing two entirely contrary personas: the kind-hearted Dr Jekyll and the devilish Mr Hyde. One of my absolute favourite scenes of the musical was Jekyll’s first transformation into Hyde. I really had no idea what to expect for the transformation and feared it might inevitably transpire in a rather underwhelming or cartoonish way. I was entirely mistaken. In this first transformation, Jekyll is bent, convulsing over his desk, stumbling, until he finally catches himself. There is a second of silence, suspense, and in this split-second, with a newfound expression of sheer, reckless, audacity, McNinch said with the perfect off-hand brevity, ‘forgive me Jekyll, I forgot to put the light out’ as the stage vanishes to complete darkness. It was truly brilliantly done; exhilarating, haunting, heart-skipping horror. Indeed, every transformation James McNinch portrayed felt profoundly real ─ without a single costume change ─ I absolutely felt as if an entirely new person emerged in a matter of seconds. The fact he was able to so vividly flip from the anxious, earnest, and quick-footed Jekyll to the deliberate, sinister, and malicious Hyde made me feel the book entirely anew. The war of the two characters, ‘co-heirs in death’ was felt with the unforgettable uncanniness of Stevenson’s 1886 novel.
Lucy Harris (Jasmine Wilans) and Emma Carew (Amy Dunn) were two incredible talents on the stage. They each lent a heartfelt poignancy to the musical with their stunning, beautiful voices, and earnest, touching characters that made the tragedy of the story keenly felt. This was another aspect of the play I found particularly well-done. The story was not lost in a sense of removed, fantastical tragedy. The emotions and pathos conveyed made the musical feel tragic in a truly human, moving way. As Jekyll/Hyde lay on the floor in the final scene, finally vanquished, I felt the force of Greek tragedy sweep across the stage.
Stunningly moving, passionate, haunting, and spun together with the reckless urgency of well-done tragedy, this production of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde left me at once flushed with its exhilaration and thrill and touched by its keen human pathos. The sheer talent of all of the performers was astonishing, bringing together the powerful story of a doomed scientist with undeniable humanity and realism. A fervent portrait of dearly lost lives and tragic, inescapable irrevocability – in an exquisite instance of the Gothic uncanny, I nearly forgot I had watched a fantasy at all.
