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Review: Jekyll and Hyde at the Southwark Playhouse

JekyllandHydeImageFlipping The Bird's re-imagining of the famous Jekyll and Hyde story garnered five star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe and has now transferred to the Southwark Playhouse for a short run. In it playwright Jonathan Holloway has turned Dr Jekyll into a woman conducting mysterious experiments the result of which are graphically revealed towards the end of the piece.

The Jekyll and Hyde story, still set in Victorian times, is introduced by two sort of narrators the premise being one is trying to buy Jekyll's diary from the other. They also play various instruments - a live soundtrack to help generate atmosphere to this supposedly creepy and grim tale.

The problem is that the notes in the programme from director Jessica Edwards make the play sound far more interesting than it actually is. The characters feel under developed, for example, Edwards would have us believe that the female Dr Jekyll violently alters herself as a response to the restrictions on women during the Victorian age when, in fact, her behaviour just comes across as a bit odd and the plot overly contrived.

There is also an odd attempt to sex up the story which while shocking in a Victorian context failed to raise as much as an eyebrow from this 21st century audience. Again it just felt like a strange decision and a bit forced.

Points for use of stage blood and simple but effective water sound effect but overall this piece left me neither intrigued, enlightened, spooked or shocked.

It runs in the Little at the Southwark Playhouse until Oct 19.

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