STEVEN Luke Walker’s explosive new rock musical Jekyll and Hyde had its debut performance by Cornwall’s Caradon Youth Theatre (CYT).
Stevenson’s original story of the mild-mannered doctor and his monstrous alter-ego has been read as an early exploration of split personality. This modern telling explores teenage identity as influenced by social pressures and the hierarchies of a high school.
As the brilliant young chemist Lucas Jekyll discovers he can access his darker side, he decides to use this power to set right the injustices around him – but unleashes something he can’t control.
When bad deeds are carried out with good intentions – where might this lead?
Every song in this superb score is a stand out composition in its own right – together they sweep the story forward. The cast did the material justice, sustaining a consistent level of intensity throughout, and with stunning vocals from all the leads.
We saw the young actors cleverly wearing some stock personas: the nerd, the airhead, the jocks, the girl from the rough side of town playing down her brains, the ruthless popularity queen.
Innovative use of minimal set and excellent physical theatre have become a hallmark of CYT productions. In the basketball game, for example, we felt a pulsing energy and threat expressed through the firing movement of the ball as the first act came to a shocking head.
In ensemble pieces the cast took charge of the space, and visually the show was very tight and together throughout. With no expensive gadgetry or stagehands, this company are very good, thanks to what they’ve learned from director Nic Early, at ensuring scene changes don’t interrupt. They move gracefully, too, between high-octane numbers and quieter, intimate scenes.
It’s easy to overlook the musicians when they are doing their job so well. Live music was performed to professional standard by a band of teen musicians, led by even more remarkable 18-year old musical director Ollie Jones, who had also arranged the band parts.
The show might just have been a little too extended in the second half and occasionally the spoken word said what had already been told, especially in the very ending, where the dialogue felt weak. When the actors dialed down on the exaggerated tone and volume familiar to Disney, and allowed something more natural to emerge, was when it worked best.
If the original Jekyll was also a commentary on the double standards in Victorian society and what lurks behind closed doors, here, the doors are wide open. There’s no shame today in talking about issues of self-harm and domestic abuse, and this show looks them straight in the eye.
It’s not just Lucas but all the characters in this story who have some kind of moral responsibility to answer – whether it’s ditching your mates for a new love interest, to being implicated in the worst of crimes. The question is about the choices, big and small, we each have to make every day when we are all ‘somewhere between good and evil’.