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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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In rehearsal: Evie Mumford, left, as Harriet, Rose Gilliam as Florence and Indigo Perrett as Flossie with Casey James as Detective Utterson looking on Jekyll and Hyde The Crescent Theatre ***** The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde becomes even stranger in the competent hands of Stage2, a company never known to have turned down a challenge. Move Robert Louis Stevenson's Gothic horror from the foggy, gas lit streets of 1886 London to the digital age and you add a whole new dimension of terrors amid the dystopian world of cyberspace in this reworking by Evan Placey. Instead of the simple narrative of a doctor and his potion which turns him into a manic killer bringing panic and fear to London, we are thrust into the world of cyberspace which is the norm for young people today. The themes of good and evil and morality remain but instead of the science v nature approach in what is a very much male dominated 19th century London, the modern version has a more psychological form of alchemy. But we start among the fog and gaslights of 19th century Grosvenor Square. The good Dr Jekyll is dead and we deal instead with his widow, Harriet, in a wonderful performance from Evie Mumford who gives us a woman striving for independence, which is a hook for the theme of women's rights – the simple right of merely being equal in pay, opportunity, stature and acceptance to men. And if we have a Jekyll, then we need a Hyde, in this case Flossie Hyde, whose middle name is seduction, in the talented hands of Indigo Perrett. Flossie works in, or at least frequents, what might be described as a house of ill repute, or, let's not beat about the bush here, it's a brothel, with, incidentally, its licence fee a source of income for the Government . . . now that's one Rachel Reeves hasn't thought of yet . . . Flossie is independent, goes her own way, gives as good as she gets, but at the end of the day is still subjugated under the patriarchal society she finds herself in. Remember the names. These are two young actresses to look out for if that is the path they choose. Among the customers, clients, Johns, whatever we call them is Judge Enfield, played with a sneering air, by James Woodman. He gives us a judge you would hate to see on the bench if you were in the dock, and Woodman gives him a real vicious air as he put the frighteners on Tommy, who tries to extract a pay rise from his honour to keep quiet about his little peccadillos in the whorehouse.
Evie Mumford as Harriett Jekyll, centre, with friends Erin Hebert as Ida, Mark Smith-Alonso as Gertrude, and Ruby Breakwell as Martha Tommy, played by Sean Domanski, is given a mix of nerves and bravado. We are never quite sure of his role – is he a facilitator for the judge, or a participant - a finder or a keeper? With a bar full of women at the beck and call of men, a Mrs Jekyll condemned for going to the theatre . . . alone! Shock horror! It is time to bring in Eve Hack-Myers as the enthusiastic firebrand campaigner Josephine, leading a protest group of women who appear on a regular basis to emphasise the unfairness of inequality, with Officer Ray, George Humphries, trying to move them along while displaying a well-honed sense of male chauvinism. Casey James takes on the role of Detective Utterson, the lawyer Gabriel of the original, who was to link Jekyll and the murderous Hyde as one person. Here Gabriel is a family friend who has been tasked with reopening the apparent suicide of Dr Jekyll a year ago after allegations it could have been a murder. Into the frame of suspects enter Ono Mazaheri as the rather shifty Dr Lanyon with what appears to be a somewhat dismissive view of women. He had worked with Dr Jekyll and refused to nominate his widow to the Royal Society to continue her husband's research. His subsequent research paper could be seen almost as a confession . . . Jump a mere 139 years and we are into the internet age and the hostile jungle of social media which legitimises lies, conspiracies and hate. Truth and facts dictated not by what is real or honest, but what gets most clicks, what makes most noise, what makes most trouble. Here we find Florence Monroe in yet another wonderful female performance, this time from Rose Gilliam – another name to follow. She is a disillusioned teenager writing a blog and posting chapters of her slash fiction novel about Harriet and Flossie. It is a novel in which Officer Rose, played with officious efficiency by Lewis Grego, gets killed trying to take advantage, of a lustful nature, of a young lady called Flossie . . . remember her? . . . in a brothel. Payment presumably being protection from arrest.
James Woodman as Judge Enfield explains gently to Sean Domanski's Tommy about the politics and privilege of power The problem arises from the fact a real PC Rose, nothing to do with Flossie, or the novel, has been murdered and DCI Renford, played with suitable authority by Joseph Waide has brought Florence in for questioning. We discover Florence harbours an anger, a frustration which stems from nasty messages she received at school. She reported them to police, but the police told her they could do nothing as the messages, though vile, had made no threats. Now she was being questioned on remarks she had made in her blog, remarks which made no specific threats, but which the police claimed enticed others to take action, in this case killing PC Rose – a situation that should ring a bell loud and clear in our days of dog whistle politics. It raises the moral question of when does expressing an opinion cross the line into enticing others into action, a line regularly exploited in populist politics? Her friend Johnny, played by Tabaarak Pathan arrives offering to help. But he is a friend, not a lawyer, and friends don't count when it comes to the law. Around the main characters creating structure we have an excellent ensemble cast with Harriet's friends, Ida, played by Erin Hebert, Ruby Breakwell as Martha and Mark Smith-Alonso as the rather pushy Gertrude. Then there is Abbie, Hattie's loyal servant, played by Clara Smith, and, religion being a mark of respectability in Victorian society, Asia-Lei Waller who keeps everyone on the straight and narrow, at least on Sunday mornings, as the priest. Filling in splendidly in all the other parts as protesters, clients and whores, passers-by, police, whatever required were Taya Bishton. Kitty Bateman. Leena Patel. Evie McCabe. Kadie Sowsbery. Megan Baker. Rei Thronicker-McCormick. Hannah Rust. Elliot Perrett, Jacob Lenton, Tom Wallace. Gabby Benito, Heidi Wells, Val Whiting and Frankie Rock. As always with Stage2 no one was on stage to make up numbers or merely hold a spear, the entire cast brought life and sparkle to an interesting take on a literary classic. With the original there was social unrest with high crime and violence especially around Whitechapel where Jack the Ripper was to make his mark two years after Stevenson's book was published. Placey's take on the story presents a new set of problems for today's youth which their parents never faced. There have always been the growing pains of youth, it’s the right of passage, the coming of age, but today's youngsters face examination, even trial by social media, with questions faced on gender and sexual identity, then there are social pressures and expectations, mental pressures, herd mentality on TikTok and the simple quandary about rights and wrongs, with everything moving at the speed of internet. Placey has tried to create a window into that world and Stage2 have invited us through it with another fine performance from a huge cast with whoever was responsible for the dance sequence, incidentally, worth a bow. This was a quality piece of theatre, well performed. It may not be the Jekyll and Hyde expected but the twist perhaps had the same conclusion that good and evil can exist side by side in the same person. We have seen Roni Mevorach grow from a fine actress into an accomplished director bringing a play which is not the easiest to stage to life in some style. Jekyll, or is it Hyde, will be in residence at the Crescent to 26-07-25 Roger Clarke 23-07-25 |
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