This is a show which does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s Jekyll and Hyde, as told by one woman, and, in common with many fringe shows, within the space of one hour.
Heather-Rose Andrews, the ‘one-woman’ has form here – she’s previously adapted and performed Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and here she brings her eye for the core of a story, with a gender-flipped twist, to the Victorian world of Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic horror novella.
With the sparsest of sets, a small but effectively utilised array of props, and an eerily compelling soundtrack, the audience spends the hour enthralled as Andrews leads us through both Jekyll and Hyde’s understanding of the events following Jekyll’s decision to utilise science to allow themselves to explore the dual nature of man. In this adaptation, it quickly becomes apparent that Jekyll is not as in control as they think they are, and that Hyde has more autonomy, and intelligence, than Jekyll has realised.
Stevenson’s original novella has been subject to significant analysis and frequent adaptation, with the text’s message subject to varying interpretations. Whatever you may believe the story to be concerned with: the nature of good and evil, public v private personas, or even ideas of Scottish nationalism, here Andrews gives us Jekyll’s descent into a loss of control, respectability and peers, contrasted with Hyde’s ascendency over Jekyll and his associates, as Hyde comes to completely overwhelm Jekyll’s perceived control of the experiment. It becomes clear early on that Jekyll knows what Hyde is doing, and is attempting to make amends for Hyde’s various transgressions, but it also becomes clear that Jekyll does not recall every moment of their alter-ego’s acts and actions.
The strength of this production lies with Andrews. She is an exceptional performer, whose stage-craft is staggering, and whose ability to hold the audience in the palm of her hand and take them with her on a journey through the story allows that audience to appreciate anew this now old, well-worn tale. Andrew’s performance is captivating, mesmerising, and as grand as it is intimate, drawing her audience into the world she has created and weaving a story which still asks us to consider what is anyone’s true nature, and how much of ourselves do we hide from the world for fear of censorship and judgement.
