REVIEW: STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE @ UPSTAIRS AT THE GATEHOUSE

🎭 Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

📍  Upstairs at the Gatehouse, 1 North Road, Highgate Village, London, N6 4BD   

🗓 Wednesday 14th August 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THE BEST PIECE OF ACTING I'VE SEEN ALL YEAR

Wow! When I left James Hyland’s performance of STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE, I was completely blown away and couldn’t wait to share my thoughts.

The play is based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson but has been cleverly adapted to be told in the first person, starting with Dr Jekyll diving into a lecture in which he will explain his scientific discovery about the duality of humankind. It was a stylistic choice that I found particularly effective, as it meant that we, as the audience, were involved immediately.

Jekyll (pronounced Jee-kull in this performance) gives us some context about his work and sets the scene. This Jekyll at the start is authoritative, intelligent and passionate about his work. But you can very quickly see that he’s suppressing an alternative self from his tics and momentary lapses in composure. Hyland is showing us that Mr Hyde is right there – just below the surface. 

As the play progresses, Dr Jekyll continues to tell the audience about his work, and then, to illustrate his story more vividly, the performance shifts to show the events leading up to his discovery. This is where Mr Hyde is introduced. Hyland’s portrayal of Hyde is masterful; Hyde staggers across the stage, slurring his monstrous words and leering menacingly.

We’re shown all of the havoc Mr Hyde wreaks – hitting a little boy and later murdering a woman on the streets of London. The performance uses very few props – just a lectern. But Hyland’s depiction of these violent acts is so compelling that you feel transported to the scene. One particularly memorable moment was the murder of the woman. Afterwards, Hyde rips open her chest, pulls out her heart and drinks her blood. Hyland does all of this solely through the movement of his hands, yet the actions are so perfect and his narrative so gripping, that I found myself grimacing and struggling to look.

Throughout the middle section of the play, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are portrayed as two distinct beings, interacting with each other. Hyland switches between these characters with incredible fluidity – each time ensuring that his gaze is directed where the previous character had been, maintaining the illusion of a conversation. It was the little details like these that demonstrated the thought and time that’s gone into perfecting this performance.

Another standout moment for me in this hour-long play was the scene set in a pub. Hyland lays the lectern horizontally to serve as a seat. Here, he once again transitions seamlessly between Dr Jekyll and the monstrous Mr Hyde. But he also throws another character into the mix: a woman whom Mr Hyde has been leering at. The way Hyland brings her to life meant that I could picture her so vividly, and I sometimes found myself forgetting where I was – watching a one-man performance above a pub in Highgate in the year 2024. I felt I was right there with these characters.

As the performance draws to a close, we return to the lecture setting. This time, the boundary separating Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has been blurred and, just as is the case in the original story, we learn that they are, in fact, the same person. Dr Jekyll drinks a blue potion and begins to convulse shockingly and grotesquely in front of us. This merging of the two characters is, for me, one of the most terrifying aspects of the play.

This final character is not obviously monstrous in his actions like Mr Hyde, but the menace is still there – in his eyes and the way he speaks. This version of the character intimidates us as the audience, using slow stares, asking unsettling questions and making uncomfortable gestures. It was intense, yes. But it was the icing on the cake of an outstanding performance, bringing Stevenson’s concept to the present day, making the entirety of what we’d just seen all the more affecting. 

In this performance, Hyland demonstrates a level of skill that I’ve rarely seen in my year and a bit of reviewing. So when I chatted to him afterwards, I had to know his secret. In his words, it’s to “rehearse, rehearse, rehearse”. And I’m sure he’ll be pleased to know that the effort certainly paid off. I’d recommend this show, and future performances of Hyland’s, to anyone – especially to any aspiring actors out there. 

James Hyland is performing in another play, THE MAD HATTER'S TEA PARTY, at The White Bear Theatre in Kennington, London, between 27th August and 7th September. Find out more and book tickets here.

Estelle Luck

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one reviewer. 

My ticket for this performance of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was gifted by Brother Wolf Productions who invited me to watch the show on behalf of Pink Prince Theatre in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.