PUSH Gives HYDE Its Regional Debut At Rochester Fringe

Internationally renowned PUSH Physical Theatre will present the Rochester debut of its twist on the iconic, 19th-century Jekyll and Hyde story by Robert Louis Stevenson, HYDE, at the 2024 Rochester Fringe Festival for four performances at School of the Arts' Allen Main Stage on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 6 PM; Sunday, Sept. 15 at 4 PM (ASL Interpreted); Friday, Sept. 20 at 8 PM; and Saturday, Sept. 21 at 5 PM. Tickets are $18 and  available at rochesterfringe.com.

PUSH skipped last year's Rochester Fringe in order to tour its  Generic Male: Just What We Need, Another Show About Men to other fringe festivals in the U.S. and Canada, picking up multiple “Best of” awards and culminating in the show's Off-Broadway run at NYC's SoHo Playhouse during the theatre's 16th prestigious International Fringe Encore Series.

This fall, PUSH returns for its 12th Rochester Fringe in 13 years, and the company's first local appearance since it's highly acclaimed performance in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's Eclipse Spectacular on April 7 at the Blue Cross Arena and its sold-out performance of Generic Male at The Little Theatre on April 18.

Fringe audiences will meet Edward Hyde, who has rented a theatre, put on his fanciest suit, and hired a couple of actors to tell his side of the story. His lofty ambitions to be a superstar careen off the rails when his special guest is late, and his actors go off script. Can he keep his emotions in check and pull off the greatest event of the century? It's hilarious, acrobatic, and – for the audience – maybe a little dangerous.

HYDE won several awards at its debut in the 33rd Orlando Fringe this past May, including the coveted “Critics' Choice: Best Play-Drama” award.

“Our fascination with the duality of human nature continues to resonate in the 21st century,” explains PUSH Founding Artistic Co-Director Darren Stevenson. “This show explores both the humor and the horror of Mr. Hyde/Dr. Jekyll's dual personality from a modern perspective.”

This wholly original portrayal features Stevenson, PUSH Creative Director (and Generic Male co-star) Ashley Jones, and PUSH's other Founding Artistic Co-Director, Heather Stevenson.

“HYDE definitely breaks through the theatrical ‘fourth wall,' just as Generic Male does,” adds Stevenson. “And, as with all of our work, we hope to entertain but also inspire thought and conversation.”

More about PUSH Physical Theatre: Intense athleticism, gravity-defying acrobatics, and soulful artistry are the trademarks of award-winning, genre-defining PUSH Physical Theatre. Founded in Rochester, NY in 2000 by husband-and-wife team, Darren and Heather Stevenson, out of a desire to “push” the boundaries of conventional theatre, PUSH has since earned an international reputation as one of the world's leading physical theatre companies. 

In addition to being the Season One finalist on TruTV's national series Fake Off, PUSH has been featured in acclaimed collaborations with the Grammy-winning Ying Quartet, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Pulitzer Prize-nominated composer Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon (multi-media operas Comala and No Se Culpe, which brought together U.S. and Mexican artists for premieres in both countries), and transgender artist Penny Sterling (Someone No One Can See). These masters of physical theatre also produce their own full-length works, including PUSH's Dracula (which tours nationally this October); Arc of Ages (an exploration of Jewish history and culture, which featured an unprecedented 23 physical theatre performers trained by PUSH); Generic Male: Just What We Need, Another Show About Men; and Hyde.  

Many shorter works include “Flight 1549,” set to the audiotape of the miraculous airplane landing in the Hudson River; and “-abled,” an exploration of addiction. Heather's touching look at the elderly in “The Visit” is a thought-provoking counterpoint to Darren's powerful take on war in “The Soldier.” A grant from the Farash Foundation enabled collaboration with RIT's National Institute for the Deaf to create “Red Ball,” a study of the real and virtual worlds using iPad technology.

Over the past two years, PUSH has performed at the International Festival for Jewish Theatre in Jerusalem, appeared Off-Broadway at the Soho Playhouse, and garnered multiple fringe festival awards: “International Fringe Encore Series,” four “Best of the Fest” awards, “Critics Choice Best Show” and “Fringe Crush” at Orlando Fringe, “Outstanding Production” at Ottawa Fringe, a “Jenny” at Winnipeg Fringe, and “Media Pick” plus a five-out-of-five-star review at Edmonton Fringe.

PUSH has been recognized for service to its community through the Rochester Community Foundation's 2023 Ames-Amzalak Award for Nonprofit Excellence, University of Rochester's Lillian Fairchild Award, Performing Artist of the Year Award from the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester, and the “Community of Color” Black History Month Anton Germano Dance Award, honoring advocates for an inclusive and diverse community who affect positive change. The acclaimed company engages underserved populations in areas with some of the highest poverty rates and too little access to the arts, providing workshops for children with disabilities, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and adults in senior facilities. PUSH created a children's education division called PUSH Pins and are sought-after teaching artists, developing programs that help students connect with curriculum concepts, life skills, and social issues. They also run an annual summer intensive for adults that attracts students from all over the world.

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