Review: JEKYLL AND HYDE, Bard in the Botanics

The second staging of this years Bard in the Botanics set inside Kibble Place is Jekyll and Hyde by Jennifer Dick, based on the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Gabriel Utterson (Stephanie McGregor) is a lawyer and long-term friend of scientist Dr Henry Jekyll (Adam Donaldson). Gabriel is shocked to find that Henry has rewritten his will, leaving everything he owns to a mysterious Mr Hyde (Sam Stopford). Henry refuses to justify his reasons leading to some friction between himself and Gabriel.

When a brutal murder takes place, and Mr Hyde is seen at the crime scene, Gabriel struggles to comprehend how Henry could associate with such a person and begins to question whether her friend is in any way involved in similar activity. 

The slight problem with a text so old and well known is that the plot 'twist' two-thirds of the way through doesn't come as much of a shock to anyone but the actors play this out with such intensity it is still captivating to watch. 

McGregor is undoubtedly leading the show with an excellent performance and her script is beautifully poetic and lyrical and is a wonderful contrast to the gritty nature of the play. The staging is perfectly intimate for this kind of production and the movement director has really outdone themselves.

The daylight inside the glass house does a slight disservice to the spooky atmosphere needed for a gothic tale like this but otherwise, this is a very good adaptation of a classic novel.

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