ROBERT Louis Stevenson’s creepy gothic classic novel has been adapted for the stage and screen many times and in many ways – from Hammer Horror to sing-a-long-a-Hyde-ee, that you would think it was all ‘gothed out’. Then along came this new version a couple of years ago by the rule-breaking writer Neil Bartlett. It’s an in-house Crescent company performance, on the main stage all this week.
First off, there were no female characters in the original story except for a bit–part maid who was regarded as an unreliable witness to a Hyde hiding. The Scotsman’s tale was all a bit misogynistic, whilst here, Bartlett introduces a female narrator in the form of Dr Stephenson (an earnest but sometimes hard to hear Amanda Nickless), a Matron (intelligent portrayal form Paula Snow) and Ester a ‘Get outta my pub’ East End lass (a delightful Phoebe Benson).
Picture by Graeme Braidwood. sSecondly, there is a Greek chorus. Seasoned director of both theatre and opera, Michael Barry is an ideal choice to make the most of Bartlett’s quirkiness of adding five top-hatted, tailcoated Victorian gentlemen to the proceedings. They act in harmony as cultured clowns or sinister thugs depending on the situation, plus as named singular characters including sometimes the good Doctor Jekyll and the bad Mr Hyde.
The ’Famous Five Go Goth’ comprise Robert Laird, Elliott McDowell, Brian Wilson, Stephen Message and Steve Davies who are always omnipresent on stage and all give sterling performances. When they sang and whistled ‘Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner’ together it was like the famous ‘Singing in the Rain’ sequence from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ a merciless and macabre signal to heavy evil approaching.
Picture by Graeme Braidwood. sSam Jackson makes an excellent Crescent debut, playing the main Jekyll and Hyde protagonists with full on physicality and a snarl that rattles around the auditorium.
Keith Harris’ set consists of clever trucks which tell a story in themselves from elegance of dining to back street debauchery via hospitals and laboratories, all shrouded in smoke and mists and greyness and lit with mastery by James Booth. Kevin Middleton adds haunting sounds and some classic AV images which complete a near perfect all round technical achievement,
My only thought was that as radio mikes were used occasionally it might have been better to have everyone miked all the way through as lines were sometimes lost in subtlety. The old theatre adage springs to mind that whilst the players know their lines inside out, we only get to hear them once.
Picture by Graeme Braidwood. sBarry has magicked up some memorable moments from Bartlett’s adaptation – in fact for me, style is better than substance.
Act two is stronger than act one, less wordy and with more action. That aside, it remains once again a highly watchable, well-directed and performed piece of unique theatre from Birmingham’s finest.
Jekyll and Hyde runs at The Crescent until Saturday, February 15. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
****
Review by Euan Rose
Euan Rose Reviews
