University of Derby BA (Hons) Theatre Arts 3rd Year Students present Evan Placey’s sequel to the classic gothic novel Jekyll and Hyde at Derby Theatre.
The play takes place around a year after the end of the Jekyll and Hyde novella, with Harriet Jekyll (played by Evie Lockely), Dr Henry Jeykll’s wife, attempting to continue her late husband’s research into the duality of man. Simultaneously to this, the play follows Florence (Mia Creasey), a blogger who is in trouble due to apparent involvement with an extreme feminist group.
The show tackles several important and topical themes, namely misogyny and the patriarchy, sexual politics, and violence as a tool of protest and changemaking. The play, especially in the second half, presents interesting arguments within these themes and doesn’t shy away from approaching some of them head on.
Lockley is a strong lead. Her strength is best shown in how she well portrays the differences between her Jekyll and Hyde; by changing the gait of her walk, her posture and her accent. The differences in how Jekyll and Hyde view their places in the world are clearly put across. There is an emotional truth in Lockley’s performance which is engaging to watch..
Creasey, too, is an equally strong lead for the modern day thread of the story. She plays her character with a more grounded approach, which makes sense for her character and the contemporary time period. Florence’s passion for the cause is clear through Creasey’s performance which comes across realistic and natural and makes you sit up and listen to what she has to say.
From the ensemble cast, Katherine Brayshay’s Josephine is a standout performance, with her powerful delivery of Women’s Rights campaign speeches.
Sam Evans, Eliott Bradley, Neirin Knowles, and Gabe Sorrell work well as doctors Maxwell, Finn, Lanyon, and Tennison, respectively, presenting a combined antagonist against Jekyll’s desire to carry out scientific research. Their almost pantomime evil laughs are darkly comic in a way, highlighting the absurdity of the disdain learned society had (and often still has) for women looking to work in a scientific field.
Although the performances from the cast are strong, there were many moments where I struggle to hear what they are saying, especially if towards the back of the stage or facing away from the audience. There is some use of microphones in the production, but the sound quality from those is slightly tinny, so the show would be better served by greater vocal projection from the cast as a whole.
Evan Placey’s script is uneven, especially in the first half. The use of anachronisms during dialogue (for example text-speak, being annoyed at autocorrect, and spelling out emojis) doesn’t work, even once their presence is technically explained. It seems, in part, their use is to draw parallels between the views of the Victorian era and modern day. However, Placey should trust the audience more, as these connections are already apparent, making the random techno babble more of a distraction than a useful device.
This lack of trust in the audience’s ability to interpret the play comes up throughout the script, especially in terms of making connections between what is happening in the play and the show’s core themes. These thematic elements do not need to be so on-the-nose in order to be understood, and the play may be more powerful had Placey allowed more of these connections to be made in the viewer’s mind rather than spelled out directly on stage. That said, it is good that the play tackles these topics.
The set design (Kiana D’ Aniello-Ddarby) is, on the whole, eye-catching and makes use of the full stage. The house part of the design is, unfortunately, set quite far back on the stage distancing the audience from the action in those scenes.
A particular joy of this design is the laboratory bench filled with bubbling concoctions in all manner of glassware (though perhaps these need to be glued down!). I’m enjoying the dynamism of this part of the set, with Lockley able to make reactions happen.
The stage design is heightened by clever use of lighting and projection (designed by Rich Heappey and Kit Lane and programmed/operated by Matthew Spiers and Christian Janiepour). The projection of the chemical structures and scientific formulae on top of the laboratory set is particularly powerful and rather mesmerising. Wlada Baran’s sound design (operated by Sam Smith) maintains a sense of tension throughout.
For a show with an 18-strong cast, multiple time periods, and a fairly complicated set to flow as well as this show does is a testament to Amanda Wallace’s direction (with Abbie Dempset as assistant director).
Overall, this is a well performed play and an interesting take on the Jekyll and Hyde story and tackles important topics.
Theatre University
Jekyll & Hyde
Fri 23 – Sat 24 May, 2025
