Review: JEKYLL & HYDE, The Lowry - National Theatre schools tour
Photo credit: Feruza Afewerki
After a successful schools tour in 2022, the National Theatre are taking their reimagined production of Jekyll & Hyde back on the road to visit schools up and down the country that are a part of the Theatre Nation Partnership areas. Prior to the tour beginning and 10,000 secondary school students getting to experience live theatre, there are also two sold out performances at The Lowry for public audiences.
From the creative mind of Evan Placey, this reimagined Jekyll & Hyde is not only a retelling, but also partially a sequel and partially a modernisation of the original tale. In this version, the identity of the titular characters is slightly different as it is Mrs Jekyll and Lady Hyde, the widow of the original characters Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. By making this change, the same story can be viewed from the alternative perspective of a female. As previously mentioned, Placey’s version is also partially modernised, although this aspect of the production isn’t fully revealed right away. In the latter half of the production, there are scenes taking place in the 21st century featuring the character of Florence, a blogger who seems to be writing this alternate version of Jekyll & Hyde as the events unwind, but she isn’t all she appears to be. Through this show, the audience get to explore and compare the parallels between the repression of women in the Victorian era and the modern day. All of the onstage action is initially set in the 19th century, but it seems the story starts “glitching” as fragments of Florence in a 21st century become more and more visible until eventually scenes in both time periods are overlapping and mirroring one another.
The way in which Placey has written this play is so very clever, particularly when it comes to the moments where there is crossover between the lives of Jekyll/Hyde and Florence, as well as the portrayal of the similarities of the repression of women in two completely different periods in time. At times, the dialogue is quite harsh and bold, particularly as the production is aimed at teenagers but in reality, the raw honesty and boldness of the production is a great way to engage that younger demographic and actually educate on feminism and gender inequalities. Stereotypically, productions aimed to educate secondary school students like this one won’t be so direct with their storytelling and will censor anything that is in anyway considered to be taboo and can lead to a much lower level of engagement, as well as seem patronising to students when they are indeed old enough to understand the themes of the show. Although quite graphic with it’s wording at times, this production is a terrific way for students to gain an understanding of the repression of female voices, both historically and in the present day, and evaluate how society has altered between the two.
As Jekyll & Hyde is touring around schools, Amanda Stoodley has designed the set for the production so that it works for being extremely portable for transporting to its various venues without requiring an extensive fit up, and also very versatile for creating different spaces onstage. The set mostly consists of free moving mesh wire panels lined with led strip lights. Lighting design from Joshua Pharo and associate lighting designer Sarah Readman, using the lights on the panels and additional lighting, creates an epic electric atmosphere to the scenes set in both the 19th and 21st centuries. Throughout the whole production, the stage management team are visible to the audience and can be seen working seamlessly together alongside the cast to really bring the production alive, which actually adds another level to the school audiences’ educational experience when watching the production as it allows them to witness how a theatre production is brought to life beyond what audiences usually get to see.
Directed by Kirsty Housley, the revised narrative is portrayed brilliantly onstage by an ensemble of actors who, whether multi-roling or not, inject energy into each character. Playing the titular role of Jekyll/Hyde is Angela Jones, who excellently demonstrates her skill as an actor by showing a great contrast between her rendition of Mrs Jekyll and Lady Hyde when the character transforms. Another standout performer is Lucy Thorburn as the other main protagonist Florence. Thorburn’s character may spend the first half of the show lingering in the shadows overseeing the action, but Thorburn really brings a fire to Florence’s story that helps build up to a climactic ending.
A powerfully bold reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, the National Theatre’s school tour of Jekyll & Hyde is a spectacular and gripping production that is sure to be both a thrilling and educational taste of live theatre for secondary school students across the country. And with its two public performances selling out for a production of such high calibre, it’s a shame that only a limited number of people will have the experience that is Evan Placey’s Jekyll & Hyde.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Jess Dalloway