It also references self-esteem issues and everyday hypocrisy. It speaks to the capacity for good and evil within us all the public versus private self the inner demons we deny at our peril and everyone else’s. Just as we all know what ‘being a Don Juan’ means, the ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ dichotomy has entered the language as concept without its origins having to be known in detail. They roam the foyer before the show, befriending the punters with seductively hyperbolic compliments (or that’s what happened to us, anyway, making me think we were back in Don Juan territory). If you listen carefully you may pick up that their actor-tags are Lili, Julie, Phillipe, Bastièn and Claudine respectively. I suppose the idea is this “very famous French theatre company” – created by director Leo Gene Peters (who hails from the USA) with young Wellington actors – will be plundering classics that expose our foibles on an annual basis.Īnd what a talented ensemble they are! Susie Berry, Andrew Paterson and Jonathan Price, from last year’s troupe, are joined by Jack Buchanan and Hayley Sproull. In both cases, however, they set the action in contemporary Wellington to make it all more relevant. The French accents made good sense when playing with Molière’s play but it’s a bit puzzling when the source is a late 19 th century novella set in London written by a Scotsman. And they share the title role(s), as and when key elements of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde manage to get a look in amid their deceptively loose playing about. The five actors affect sexy French accents, masquerading as a “very famous French theatre company”. Just as A Slightly Isolated Dog’s Don Juan did last year, Jekyll & Hyde invites us to play with their play. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde It all adds to the madcap mayhem that the cast bring to this very entertaining show.Ī reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s To say the show is loosely based on Robert Louis Stephenson’s original story is somewhat of an understatement, although Dr Jekyll’s good deeds in contrast to Mr Hyde’s dastardly ones, and his final comeuppance, do feature.Īnd while it is never clear why the cast use French accents to tell a very English story, they do add a lot to the humour of the piece, making it look like an episode of the old TV show Eurotrash.īut it is not the story that is at the core of this show, but the way it is presented in a very over the top, camp and hammed-up way, with lots of extraneous strands to the story, often waylaying the cast while interacting with the audience and having to be told to get on with it.Īnd, as the programme notes say, having fun is the essence of the show, even at times at the expense of artistic integrity.Īnd although much of the show is structured around improvisation and audience interaction and participation, the cast never allow it to get out of hand, continually keeping a tight rein on where it’s going and moving it forward.Īnd how they involve the audience is very creative and inventive, with imaginative use of props and the exceptionally clever way they use and incorporate sound effects into the action. Suffice to say that the statement of director Leo Gene Peters in the programme notes saying, “We invite you to play with us a bit”, is never more true than in this production, as the five actors Susie Berry, Jack Buchanan, Andrew Paterson, Jonathan Price and Hayley Sproull turn on a high-octane, overly-charged show that defies many conventions of theatre. The new show at Circa Studio, A Slightly Isolated Dog’s production of Jekyll & Hyde, is one of those shows where to write too much about it gives many of the intriguing surprise elements of the show away. Devised by A Slightly Isolated Dog, directed by Leo Gene PetersĬirca Studio, Wellington, 7:30pm (Tuesday to Saturdays and 4.30pm Sundays), until 16 April
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |