Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Attic Theatre
Playing until 2 November
It’s always a delight to see Tread the Boards’ Hallowe’en play but I thought before I went that the adaptation into a play text from Robert Louis Stephenson’s 1886 novella was going to be a real challenge because the strength of that work lies more in the description than in the plot. However, Catherine Prout and John-Robert Partridge do an amazing job in their adaptation, creating a compelling and spooky drama.
You know you are in for something eerie when you enter the theatre to be confronted by George Ormerod and Emily Tietz in black with scary make-up, slow movement, wide open eyes and menace, particularly when their scowl turns into a demonic grin. You feel like an intruder into Jeckyll’s laboratory, splendidly depicted by Adam Clarke’s design. And you are being watched, too.
John-Robert Partridge’s production begins with Ormerod and Tietz who turn out to be the presiding demons in the story, reading extracts from journals and then moving from being Jeckyll’s domestic servants with Ormerod as Poole, into coming out of their slow moving mime-like menace into everyday timing to play all the other minor characters briefly, before resuming their choral function.
The story itself is pretty simple. Based on Victorian theories about the duality of human nature Dr Jeckyll finds a potion through his study of transcendental medicine to release his hidden, base nature when he experiments on himself. Not quite so here, though, as he is reliant on his male servant to administer the injections which turn him into a murdering monster. His friends, John-Robert Partridge’s lawyer Gabriel Utterson with wonderful straight back and bemused upright posture and Dr Hastie Lanyon splendidly played by Phil Leach, are played as normal mortals who are out of their depth. This bring us to Jeckell and Hyde, played by Rob Keeves in what is not only the most demanding but also the best Tread the Boards performance I have seen him give. His gradual deterioration is skilfully shown and his straggly haired bent over Hyde a wonderful disguise.
Kat Murray’s sound and lighting design is integral to the success of the show with frequent scary blackouts, gloomy lighting and some splendid spots. There are murders, a meticulously choreographed fight between Jeckyll and Poole, sprays of liquid and spookiness galore.
It is a play where normality is hopeless against the dark forces. Poor Maria, convincingly played by Rosie Coles, doesn’t stand a chance. Nor does Lanyon. Utterson survives saying he won’t be able to follow Jeckyll’s work, but he is told at the end ‘You said you can always follow a recipe’.
This play is really a treat, keeping the audience on their toes throughout. What happens to Jeckyll and Hyde, you might wonder. You will have to see it to find out. The addition of the prominence of the Butler and Maid and the impeccable versatility of George Ormerod made this a production to remember for me. 2025 Hallowe’en wouldn’t be Hallowe’en without it.