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Jekyll and Hyde. - World Premiere and tour.
Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Adapted by - Robert Patterson and Alasdair McCrone.
Director - Alasdair McCrone.
Designer - Alicia Hendrick.
Lighting Designer - Mick Andrew.
Music and Sound Designer - Martin Low.
Company - The Mull Theatre Company www.mulltheatre.com.
Cast -here .
Tour Dates - here .
Seen to review at Howden Park Centre, Livingston.
Run Time - 2 hours 15 mins with an Interval.
Reviewer - Thelma Good.

Dramatises Scottish subconscious.

Dressed in Victorian clothes, Kevin Lennon as Hyde stands behind the seated Alan Steel as Jekyll.
Jekyll and Hyde - Mull Theatre Production.
Kevin Lennon as Hyde and Alan Steel as Jekyll.
© Douglas Robertson 2004.
McCrone and Paterson's script reinterprets Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde by creating a linear narrative, and introducing two female characters in Jekyll's maid Sarah and the music hall singer Sophie. Nor are these the only changes - the victim of the murder which Hyde commits is one of Jekyll's circle of friends, a man who after a life of self-indulgence has just entered Parliament. The script with its invented dialogue recreates the feel of a late Victorian world in which women are either nurturers (Sarah) or victims (Sophie), as well as establishing the background of science and pseudo-science, and the responsibilities of the educated elite. But importantly the adapters have not destroyed the central integrity of Stevenson's novel.

In Mull Theatre's dramatisation the two sides of the Scottish soul are encaspulated in the Presbyterian, repressed, Dr Jekyll and the raw, animalist Hyde. Alan Steel's Jekyll has the scientist's drive for knowledge but from his response to his maid Sarah's, Beth Marshall, interest in learning we pick up his caring side, tinged with his attraction for a woman. His encounters with his fellow doctor Lanyon, Alan McPherson, his friends, the wise lawyer Utterson, a centered performance from Iain Macrae, and the weathly, teetering on the brink of full blown dissoluteness Stephen Clyde's Richard Enfield all reveal aspects of Jekyll, as well as suggesting men he might have been but for the repressed facets of his nature. The invented character of Sophie, vividly also played by sole female Marshall, poignantly fleshes out the underside of their world in her encounters with the increasingly out of control Hyde, Kevin Lennon, who sets her up as his mistress.

The dramatisation has a flavour of melodrama, which Martin Low's well composed and recorded soundscape enhances. The scene changes and Jekyll and Hyde transformations often would be better served in venues which can provide a complete blackout between scenes - a darker set would also have helped. Though the set's simple stripped to wooden framework of buildings and use for various locations does echo the confusion in Jekyll's mind.

Seen at Howden Park the audience showed their reaction to a dramatisation that kept their attention, accompanying their applause with cheers - a particular behaviour of Livingston theatre goers. Mull Theatre's production has introduced its own detail to a tale whose dual character is part of our Scottish subconscious.
© Thelma Good 25 September 2004. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com

Cast of Mull Theatre's Jekyll and Hyde. -
Henry Jekyll - Alan Steele.
Edward Hyde - Kevin Lennon.
William Utterson - Iain Macrae.
Hastie Lanyon/Poole - Alan Macpherson.
Sarah Poole/Sophie - Beth Marshal.
Richard Enfield/ The M.C - Stephen Clyde.

2004 Tour Dates
16 -18 Sept at 7:45pm Cumbernauld Theatre 01236 732887.
20 Sept at 7:30pm Motherwell Theatre 01698 302999.
21 - 22 Sept at 8pm St Andrews Byre Theatre 01334 475000.
24 - 25 Sept at 8pm Livingston Howden Park Centre 01506 433634.
27 - 29 Sept at various times Dunfermline Carnegie Hall 01383 314000.
30 Sept - 2 Oct at 7:30pm Musselburgh Brunton Theatre 0131 665 2240.

4 Oct at 7:30pm Peterhead Community Theatre 01779 477277.
5 Oct at 7:30pm Inverurie Town Hall 01467 625800.
6 Oct at 7:30pm Macduff Arts Centre 01261 833819.
7 Oct at 7:30pm Elgin Town Hall 01343 562600.
8 Oct at 7:30pm Stonehaven Town Hall 01569 762806.
9 Oct at 7:30pm Aberdeen Arts Centre 01224 641122.
12 -13 Oct at 7:30pm Kilmarnock The Palace 01563 554900.
14 - 15 Oct at 7:30pm Paisley Arts Centre 0141 887 1010.
16 Oct at 7:30pm Greenock Arts Guild Theatre 01475 723038.
20 Oct at 7:30pm Falkirk Town Hall 01324 506850.
21 Oct at 7:30pm Stranraer Ryan Centre Theatre 01776 703535.
23 Oct at 7:30pm Largs Barrfields Theatre 01475 689777.
26 Oct at 8pm Skye Sabhal Mor Ostaig 01471 844207.
27 Oct at 7:30pm Clashmore Carnegie Hall 01862 811068.
28 Oct at 7:30pm Dingwall Town Hall 01349 836115.
29 Oct at 7:30pm Ullapool MacPhail Centre 01854 613336.
30 Oct at 7:30pm Lochinver Village Hall 01571 844262.

1 Nov at 8pm Durness - tickets at the door
2 - 3 Nov at 8pm Lyth Arts Centre 01955 641270
4 Nov at 7.30pm Invergordon Arts Centre 01349 868478
5 Nov at 8pm Glenmoriston Millennium Hall 01320 351228
6 Nov at 7:30pm Birnam Institute 01350 727674
10 - 13 Nov at 7:45pm, Sat mat at 2:30pm Dundee Rep 01382 223530.
15 Nov at 7:30pm Garelochhead Gibson Community Centre01436 810403.
16 Nov at 7:30pm Cairndow Millennium Hall 01499 600315.
17 Nov at 7:30pm Campbeltown 01586 554469.
18 Nov at 8pm Islay Port Ellen Ramsey Hall 01496 860216.
19 Nov at 8pm Ardrishaig 01546 603596.
20 Nov Easdale Hall tbc
22 Nov at 8pm Strontian Arainn Shuaineirt 01397 709228.
23 Nov at 7.30pm Mallaig & Morar Community Centre 01687 460039.
25 Nov at 7.30pm Oban Corran Halls 0163 567333.
26 Nov at 8pm Isle of Mull Bunessan Hall 01688 302828.
27 Nov at 8pm Isle of Mull Tobermory Aros Hall 01688 302828.
Tour ends
Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com

Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions.

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