Review: Lane Cove Theatre Company Delivers A Captivating Small Stage Expression of JEKYLL & HYDE: THE MUSICAL

Saturday 13th February 2021, 7:30pm, The Performance Space @ St Aidan's Longueville

Showcasing some fabulous community talent, Lane Cove Theatre Company's presentation of the musical take on Robert Louis Stevenson's gothic horror novella JEKYLL & HYDE opens the amateur theater group's 2021 season. Under Lochie Beh's direction, Frank Wildhorn (music & lyrics), Leslie Bricusse (lyrics and book), and Steve Cuden's (lyrics) adaptation of the iconic tale of the investigation into the good and evil within humanity is presented with clarity and ingenuity in the intimate Performance Space at St Aidan's Loungueville.

While the duality of Jekyll and Hyde is generally widely understood as a concept, many aren't as familiar with the full underlying story that Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in 1886. Believed to be inspired by convicted murderer who had been a friend of Stevenson, the allegory that first appeared as a 'penny dreadful' paperback that focused on Lawyer John Utterson's concern for his friend Dr Henry Jekyll's odd behavior and subsequent discovery that Dr Jekyll's experiments have unleashed an alter ego, Mr Edward Hyde, who indulges in the vices that a respectable man like Dr Jekyll can't pursue. Jekyll & Hyde: the musical takes its inspiration from Stevenson's work and explores the evolution of Dr Jekyll's decision to experiment on himself and the bloody results whilst injecting a love story to the mix. For the musical take, Dr Jekyll (Trent Gardiner) is inspired to study whether the evil within can be separated from a person by watching his father's demise in an insane asylum. When the Board of Governors of St Jude's Hospital refuse his request for a human test subject, he follows his friend and lawyer John Utterson's (Isaac Downey) encouragement not to give up on the project although it is unlikely that Utterson imagined that Jekyll would conduct the experiments on himself. As with the source text, Jekyll drinks a series of formulas, documenting the effects along the way but the concoctions end up working a bit too effectively, releasing Jekyll's alter ego Edward Hyde (Joseph Raso). As with the source material, Hyde is sufficiently physically different from Jekyll so people cannot make the connection between the men and Hyde retains his evil self-indulgent nature that indulges in violent pleasures of the flesh along with an even more sinister desire for revenge against those he feels are hypocrites and people who have wronged Dr Jekyll.

While the story spans multiple locations the set design, also by Lochie Beh, easily manages the different locations with articles bordering the performance space. A sideboard heaving with books, bottles and skulls serves as Dr Hyde's laboratory. Entrances beneath the swathe of blue fabric indicate Carew's home while a red fabric archway and chaise lounge serves as the 'Red Rat' bar and brothel. A round dining table moved to center stage indicates the hospital Boardroom and the use of black umbrella's implies the wet streets of London. Beh's costume design does well to express the Victorian era setting, understanding the limitations of community theatre budget that lead to some items that arent completely off the right era but serve a purpose like Emma Carew's (Olivia Oxley) more contemporary engagement dress signaling her as different to the parade of aristocratic women that look down their nose at her proposed union with Dr Jekyll. Jeremy Cardew and Lochie Beh's lighting design uses colour to signify the shifting moods and the transformations from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde. Steve Dula provides the sole musical accompaniment on electric keyboard positioned at the side of the stage.

JEKYLL & HYDE: THE MUSICAL is an ambitious work and Beh and his cast have done a wonderful job of bringing it to life. The choice to split the casting of Jekyll and Hyde across Gardiner and Raso works well as Gardiner has a more sensitive high tenor for Jekyll while Raso engages the gruffer sinister lower range for Hyde. Gardiner gives Jekyll a sensitivity and expresses the inner conflict without overplaying the role. Raso's expression of Hyde is a little forced and deliberate and could benefit from a more intuitive expression of the dark anger which will hopefully develop during the season. Samantha Wills has strong potential with a captivating voice in reflective tender moments but could benefit from more precision when reaching her full flight. Standout vocals however come from Olivia Oxley who delivers a stunningly beautiful and clear performance of Emma Carew which is further strengthened with a genuine acting style which expresses an understanding of the young woman's underlying emotion and devotion to the difficult Dr Jekyll. Oxley is definitely a performer to follow and its a pity that she was not given the role in the 2019 professional concert staging of this work. The challenge of finding the right number of suitable performers of the required genders for the script is also interestingly managed with the gender balance of the Board of Governors shifting from Lady Beaconsfield originally being the only woman on the board to Sir Danvers now being the only man and the female board members being an even cattier combination of naysayers than the original scriptwriting.

Lane Cove Theatre Company's production of JEKYLL &HYDE: THE MUSICAL is well worth the trek out to Longueville and delivers a remarkable strong performance for community theatre. Inventive staging that does well with the limited space and budget is paired with a generally strong cast to deliver an enjoyable expression of a work that is rarely produced.

http://www.lanecovetheatrecompany.com/season-2021.html