April 30 - May 29
Vertigo Mystery
Theatre Season
Sponsor
403.221.3708
Production
Sponsor
Government
Funders
www.vertigotheatre.com
Media
Sponsor
Vertigo Theatre | 115 9 Ave SE
(at the Calgary Tower)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Credits Page
p.2
Who Is Vertigo Theatre?
p.3
About Going to the Theatre
p.4
About Robert Louis Stevenson
p.5
About the Novella, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
p.6
About Jeffrey Hatcher, Play Adapter
p.6
About the Play
p.7
About the Main Characters
p.7
Meet the Director, Mark Bellamy
p.9
Pre-show Activities
The Victorian Era
The Who Meet Robert Louis Stevenson
Set Design Challenges
The Nature of Man
p.10
p.11
p.11
p.12
Good and Evil
Dear Diary
Adaptations
Actor Homework
Student Play Review
p.13
p.14
p.15
p.15
p.17
Post-show Activities
Sponsor Information
p.18
Teacher Evaluation
p.19
Vertigo Theatre is committed to creating a welcoming atmosphere for schools
and to assist teachers and parent chaperones with that process. It is our wish to
foster and develop our relationship with our student audience members. It is our
intention to create positive theatre experiences for young people by providing
study guides and post-show “talk backs” with our actors and theatre personnel, in
order to enrich students’ appreciation of theatre as an art form and enhance their
enjoyment of our plays.
WHO IS VERTIGO THEATRE
Vertigo Theatre operates out of Vertigo Theatre Centre and is located in the heart
of downtown at the Calgary Tower.
Housing two performing spaces, The Playhouse and The Studio, Vertigo Theatre
produces a mystery series (Vertigo Mystery Theatre) and presents theatre-foryoung-audience productions from across the country (Y Stage).
Vertigo Mystery Theatre is a unique opportunity for students to come together
and engage in an entertaining theatrical experience that promotes problem
solving. Appropriate for Junior and Senior High School students, Vertigo Mystery
Theatre allows students to study the literature of authors such as Agatha Christie
and J.B. Priestly while engaging in a shared cultural experience.
Y Stage provides young audiences and adults alike an opportunity to investigate
and rediscover our world. Y Stage is ideal for educating young people on the vast
scope of theatre as we feature a wide variety of performance styles including
physical theatre, mask, dance and spoken word. With five productions and an
additional show aimed specifically at teens, Y Stage truly has something for
students of all ages.
4
ABOUT GOING TO THE THEATRE
Going to the theatre to see a play is a unique and wonderful experience. The sense of
being “right there” in the characters’ lives, the exchange of energy between actors and
audience, this cannot be found in front of television, films, computers, iPads or
Blackberries. In the theatre, the audience shares what the actors on stage are doing by
watching and listening. The actors on stage also respond to the audience and the way they
are reacting to the performance.
Some students may be coming to the theatre for the first time; others may need to be
reminded of appropriate audience behavior. The following is offered in the hope that your
students gain the most from their theatre experience.
• Stay with your group at all times and pay attention to your teachers, chaperones and
theatre personnel.
• Once seated, stay put, watch and enjoy the play. If you absolutely must use the
washroom during the performance, please exit the theatre quickly and quietly. You will
be readmitted to the theatre at the discretion of the House Manager.
• Please do not stand up, walk around or put your feet on the seat or stage in front of you.
• Remember, this is “live” theatre. If you even whisper to someone beside you during the
performance or in a blackout between scenes, you could disturb the concentration of the
actors doing their jobs, or other audience members’ enjoyment of the play.
• Eating, drinking or chewing gum is not permitted in the theatre.
• Feel free to talk quietly before the show. When the houselights go down at the
beginning of the play, this lets you know that we’re starting. It is at this moment that the
actors and technical staff do their final preparation for the opening moment, so please let
them do their work by being quiet and respectful.
• Laugh if it’s funny, cry if it’s sad, think, watch, listen, feel, respond, and, above all,
applaud at the end. Let the actors and everyone else involved in the production know in
the curtain call that you had a good time and appreciated their work.
• If you have a cell phone, iPod, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, or any other electronic device,
please make sure it is turned off or leave it with the Front of House Manager until the
performance is over. If you feel the urge to text during the performance, just don’t out of
courtesy to your fellow audience members and the performers.
• The use of cameras and recording devices in the theatre is strictly prohibited.
• At the end of the performance and “talk back”, please wait for the ushers to escort your
group out of the theatre.
• Above all else, have a good time!
4
ABOUT ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
Robert Lewis (later ‘Louis’) Balfour Stevenson (1850 – 1894) was a Scottish novelist,
poet, essayist and travel writer. Among his most notable works are Treasure Island, A
Child’s Garden of Verses, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
As a child, he was often plagued by coughs and fevers, made worse by damp and cold
weather in Scotland. Such illnesses also occurred in his adult life and he was often bedridden.
Stevenson entered the University of Edinburgh, intending to follow in his father and
grandfather’s footsteps and become an engineer; however, he was not well suited
physically to the occupation. He next studied law but decided ultimately to become a
writer, having written many stories as a child.
Throughout his life, Stevenson often traveled to warm climates due to his ill-health. He
wrote many novels, stories, and collections of essays based on his travels to such places
as the south of France or the South Seas. During one trip to France, he met an American
artist, Fanny Vandergrift Osbourne and fell in love with her. The relationship was
complicated because she was married at the time; however, after divorcing her husband,
she and Stevenson were wed.
Fanny had two children and they adored their new step-father. While on holiday in
Scotland in the summer of 1881, the cold, damp weather forced the family to stay
indoors. One day, Stevenson and his twelve-year-old stepson, Lloyd, drew, coloured and
annotated the map of an imaginary treasure island. This map piqued Stevenson’s
imagination and he wrote a story based on it as entertainment for his family. Treasure
Island was published in book form in 1883, marking Stevenson’s popularity and career as
a profitable writer.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was the original title of a novella Stevenson
wrote that was first published in 1886. It was an immediate success and one of his bestselling works. Stage adaptations began in Boston and London within a year of its
publication, and it has gone on to inspire countless major film, television and stage
adaptations.
In 1890, Stevenson purchased land on Upolu, one of the Samoan islands. In addition to
clearing the land, building his house and helping the Samoan people, he also did a lot of
writing. When he died there at the age of 44, the Samoans insisted on surrounding his
body with a watch-guard during the night and bearing him on their shoulders to nearby
Mount Vaea, where they buried him on a place overlooking the ocean. Stevenson had
always wanted his poem, ‘Requiem’ inscribed on his tomb.
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
ABOUT THE NOVELLA,
STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886.
The novella about a dual personality much depicted in plays and films was also
influential in the growth of understanding of the subconscious mind through its treatment
of a kind, intelligent doctor who turns into a psychopathic monster after taking a drug
intended to separate good from evil in a personality.
The book follows the investigations of a London lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, into the
strange relationship between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll and his evil, immoral
doppelganger, Edward Hyde.
Robert Louis Stevenson had been fascinated by the idea of how to combine the coaction
of good and evil into a story. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde represents the inner
conflict of humanity’s sense of good and evil. The story examines the duality of human
nature that good and evil exists in everyone. In some schools of psychology, thoughts and
desires pushed back into the unconscious mind may motivate the behaviour of the
conscious mind. Further to that, in the story, the more Dr. Jekyll struggles to banish all
evil to his unconscious mind in an attempt to be good and pure, the more cruel and
immoral his Mr. Hyde becomes.
There have been countless film, television, radio and stage adaptations based on Strange
Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as well as many spoofs, such as ‘Dr. Pyckle and Mr.
Pryde’, a 1925 silent, black-and-white comedy film starring Stan Laurel, ‘Jekyll and
Heidi’, a book in the Goosebumps series, and ‘Mrs. Hyde’, a 2005 song by the Italian
band Belladonna. The story has also been the influence for The Hulk, the fictional comic
book, Two-Face, and the superhero genre for the story’s ties to a double life.
ABOUT JEFFREY HATCHER, PLAY ADAPTER
Jeffrey Hatcher is a playwright and screenwriter. He grew up in Steubenville, Ohio,
where he was inspired by his high school drama teacher. He went to Denison University
in Granville, Ohio, spent time in New York City and then moved on to Minneapolis. His
many award-winning plays have been performed both on and Off-Broadway as well as
regionally and abroad.
Hatcher also wrote the screenplays for the films, Casanova (2005, with the late Heath
Ledger), Stage Beauty, and The Duchess (2008, with Kiera Knightly), as well as episodes
of the Peter Falk TV series Columbo. His adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde, entitled DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, was nominated for an Edgar Award in
2009. The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (known as the Edgar Awards) honour the best in
mystery, fiction, non-fiction, television and film. They are presented by The Mystery
Writers of America.
ABOUT THE PLAY
In some versions of the Jekyll and Hyde tale, both characters are played by the same
actor. This choice eliminates the mystery aspect of the true identity of Mr. Hyde. Other
versions have two different actors in the roles, with Hyde, in some instances, portrayed as
an evil-looking monster of a man.
Jeffrey Hatcher’s ingenious play adaptation is designed to be played by a mere six actors,
four men and two women. He has also included a romantic element, which does not exist
in the original story by Robert Louis Stevenson. In Hatcher’s play, one actor plays
“Jekyll” and no other role, and one actor plays “Elizabeth” and no other role. All four of
the other actors, including the other woman, play multiple roles, with each playing
“Hyde” at some point. In this way, the various facets of Mr. Hyde are portrayed by the
actors playing that character at different points in the play. One prop, a silver-headed
cane, is reserved solely for the actors who play Hyde, making that character easily
recognizable.
The play is set in London, 1883, during the Victorian era in England, which ran from
1837 to 1901, the period of the reign of Queen Victoria. There are many locations
depicted by moveable set pieces representing drawing rooms, offices, a laboratory, a
private surgery, a morgue, a dissecting theatre, a bed-sitting room, a park, a hotel room
and various streets and alleys. The script indicates there to be no costume changes, with
the many different characters identified by a prop or costume piece, such as a hat, scarf,
or cape.
The notion that evil lurks within us all is the intriguing idea behind the play. Upstanding
scientist, Dr. Henry Jekyll, is tormented by multiple versions of his doppelganger,
Edward Hyde. The central conflict of good versus evil and civilization versus savagery is
present in Jeffrey Hatcher’s play adaptation. So too is a subtler distinction. As the
character of Utterson, Dr. Jekyll’s friend and attorney says, “I’ve come to believe there’s
no one who’s wholly good or wholly bad, not even the worst of us.”
ABOUT THE MAIN CHARACTERS
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde is the dual title character in the play. Jekyll is a
doctor who has covered up a secret life full of cruelty and barbarism. He battles within
himself between what is good and evil, and tries to avoid people he cares about. After
drinking a potion of his own creation designed to isolate the beast in man’s nature in
order to cure it, Jekyll is transformed into the evil, remorseless Mr. Hyde, representing
the dark, hidden side of his nature brought to the forefront. Dr. Jekyll is kind and
friendly; however, as Mr. Hyde, he becomes mysterious, violent and secretive. As Hyde
begins to take over more of Jekyll’s personality, people become suspicious of the
relationship between Jekyll and Hyde.
Mr. Gabriel Utterson is Dr. Jekyll’s friend and lawyer. He becomes aware of Mr. Hyde,
the villain, who roams the streets of London at night, terrorizing and harassing people.
Seeing Hyde enter Jekyll’s building several times, Utterson begins investigating the
villain. He warns Jekyll against associating with Hyde because of the crimes he has
committed, saying, “We are oft judged by the company we keep.”
Elizabeth Jelkes’s character does not appear in the original story by Robert Louis
Stevenson. She is a chambermaid who develops a relationship with Mr. Hyde after he
pays off her family for knocking her young sister over in an alley. Hyde actually falls in
love with Elizabeth, showing one human aspect of his multi-faceted personality. She, in
turn, falls in love with him, despite her eventual discovery of his evil ways. Dr. Jekyll
begs her to stay away from Hyde; however, it is Jekyll she fears and runs from.
Dr. Lanyon is a colleague and friend to Dr. Jekyll even though he does not necessarily
agree with his friend’s scientific research. When Jekyll comes to him asking for
confidential advice about a patient (Hyde), Dr. Lanyon warns him that his patient sounds
mad and should be confined to an asylum since he sounds capable of harming himself
and others. Dr. Lanyon is the first to realize that Jekyll and Hyde are one.
Sir Danvers Carew is Chief Surgeon at the College of London Hospital. A pompous,
domineering man, there is no love lost between him and Dr. Henry Jekyll. When Jekyll is
incensed by Carew’s actions to dissect a young female murder victim’s body in a crude,
disrespectful manner in front of an entire class of surgical students, Hyde steals the
cadaver and replaced it with a freshly slaughtered pig. Jekyll describes Carew as, “… a
fraud and a sadist, a corrupt and evil man who disgraced the medical profession.”
Poole is Dr. Jekyll’s butler, serving him faithfully and attempting to do a good job and be
efficient and loyal. Poole worries as Jekyll changes and becomes more and more
mysterious and reclusive.
Mr. O. F. Sanderson is the private detective Dr. Jekyll hires to follow Mr. Hyde. Since
he has been suffering from black outs during Hyde’s exploits, Jekyll wants Sanderson to
find out, “Where he lives, where he banks, where you’re apt to see him next emerge. I
want to know his movements, his affairs, friends. Those he meets are of particular
interest. Especially one individual. A woman.” Jekyll is referring to Elizabeth, with
whom he is also quite taken.
Mr. Richard Enfield, a relation of Mr. Gabriel Utterson, witnesses Hyde knocking over
a young girl in the street and tells the puzzling story to his cousin. Hyde had given the
girl a cheque for twenty pounds for her trouble. Enfield noted that the cheque was signed
by Henry Jekyll, with whom they will be dining that evening.
MEET THE DIRECTOR, MARK BELLAMY
You are directing DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE, and in your role as Artistic Director of
Vertigo Theatre, you also chose the play to be in your season. What is it about the play
that drew you to it in the first place?
I read a lot of plays each year, trying to find new and exciting projects for Vertigo that
stretch the idea of what ‘mystery’ is. When I read this adaptation of Robert Louis
Stevenson’s story I was really fascinated by the way the playwright, Jeffrey Hatcher,
approached the transformation of Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde, using different actors at
different times to portray the various aspects of Mr. Hyde. The way he handles these two
central characters is the real twist he puts on this classic story. As Jekyll and Hyde evolve
through the play the lines of who’s good and who’s evil start to blur – both of them are
flawed. I really thought that was far more interesting approach than just a black and white
‘good vs. evil’ approach to this story.
How would you describe the main themes explored in the play?
One of question I think the play poses is ‘Can a good person do bad things and can a bad
person have good intentions?’ It really is a study into the nature of good and evil and the
duality of those two forces that exist in everyone. Dr. Jekyll works to isolate the dark
forces in his psyche, to separate the higher morality of civilized man from the brutal
primitive side. In the end I think the play becomes about balance – that we are imperfect
creatures who can never be one thing or the other but must choose how we live our lives.
What do you think will be your greatest challenges in directing this play?
This is a very physical piece with lots of locations, lots of characters and a lot of
movement. Most of the work we will do in rehearsal will be about how we make the play
flow seamlessly from one scene to another without long scene changes. The set design is
a big part of how we will accomplish that – it’s four simple set pieces that will transform
the stage to all the locations we need. The actors will also be a big part of how we make
this work, I think we will be spending a lot of time on the physicality of the characters
they play and how they move through the environments we create onstage
Several of the actors will be playing multiple roles. What challenges do you think they
will face and how are you planning to address them in rehearsals?
Physicality is a huge part of this play – four of the six actors have to tackle a variety of
roles, without elaborate costume changes, so finding a specific physicality for each one
will be essential to making all of those shifts clear. The really fun challenge that I’m
looking forward to is figuring out the physicality of Edward Hyde, who is played by
different actors at different times. We will have to find a common physical vocabulary
for Hyde so that each of the actors playing him has the same sense and style of movement
to make the character instantly recognizable. This will also inform how we shift back and
forth from the actor who plays Dr. Jekyll to the actors playing Hyde. There are times
when the transformation occurs onstage, created just by movement. I think it’s going to
be really fun to create and fun to watch!
What advice can you offer to young people who are interested in directing?
Hmmmm. Well first off as a director you should have a good base of knowledge about all
the aspects that are involved in creating a play. I think directors should try acting, try
designing, try stage-managing so that they have a better understanding of everyone’s job.
It’s also really important to create an atmosphere of trust when you are rehearsing,
allowing everyone in the room to contribute and be part of the process. Directing isn’t
telling people where to go, or how to act, or how to talk, it’s about guiding and enabling
artists to do their best work. If you’re interested in directing take advantage of every
experience you have in the theatre to watch other directors – watch what works and what
doesn’t – how do different actors respond to different approaches? Remember that it’s
okay to say ‘I don’t know the answer’ as long as you are willing to work collaboratively
to find the solution to the problem. Theatre is a team sport.
PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES
The Victorian Era
The play, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE is set in London, England in the year 1883.
The Victorian Era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign from
June, 1837 until her death in January, 1901. Victoria reigned for 63 years and 216 days,
longer than any other British monarch. The era was a period of industrial, cultural,
political, scientific and military change within the United Kingdom. It was an extremely
diverse and complex period that could be considered the precursor of the modern era.
In order to become familiar with the world of the play, research some of the following
topics.
Arts and Culture
Literature
Entertainment
Technology
Engineering
Health and Medicine
Poverty and the Lower Class
Child Labour and Prostitution
The Emergence of the Middle Class
Clothing and Fashion
Darwin and his Theory of Evolution
The Industrial Revolution
Jack the Ripper
The Who Meet Robert Louis Stevenson
During the 1980’s, there were a number of Heavy Metal artists who wrote songs based on
Victorian horror stories. For example, Iron Maiden wrote “Murders in the rue Morgue”
and Sweeney Todd wrote “Fleet Street.”
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltry (vocals), Pete
Townshend (guitar), John Entwistle (bass), and Keith Moon (drums). They became
famous for energetic live performances that often included instrument destruction. On
their album, Magic Bus: The Who On Tour, was the song “Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
Below are the lyrics.
Hyde, Hyde.
Someone is spending my money for me,
The money I earn I never see,
In all the things I do he interferes,
All I know is trouble when he appears.
Mister Hyde, Mister Hyde, Mister Hyde, Mister Hyde, Hyde.
When I drink my potion my character changes,
My whole mind and body rearranges,
This strange transformation takes place in me,
Instead of myself everybody can see …
Mister Hyde, Mister Hyde, Mister Hyde, Mister Hyde, Hyde.
Whenever you’re with me make sure it’s still me,
I’ve got to the stage I can’t tell which I’ll be,
The loveable fellow who’ll buy you a drink,
Then when he’s drunk he’ll change in a wink into …
Hyde, Mister Hyde, Mister Hyde, Mister Hyde, Hyde.
Use the lyrics as a basis to create artwork, music, tableaux, film, choral speech, dramatic
scenes with the words as the dialogue, or perhaps even a Readers Theatre piece.
Set Design Challenges
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE is set in London, England in the year 1883 during the
Victorian era in the United Kingdom. If you research styles of Victorian furniture that
could possibly be found on the set, you will discover that they draw their influence from
gothic forms with heavy proportions, dark finishes, elaborate carvings, ornamentation,
exaggerated curves, and lush upholstery.
Scenes in the play take place in many different locations: drawing rooms, offices, a
laboratory, a private surgery, a morgue, a dissecting theatre, a bed-sitting room, a park, a
hotel room, and various streets and alleys.
According to the play adapter’s notes at the beginning of the script, “The play is designed
for maximum speed and movement, so transition time must be kept to an absolute
minimum. Rooms may be suggested by moveable desks, chairs, serving tables, lab tables,
hospital gurneys, and the like … What is vital for any production is THE RED DOOR
that is moved from place to place during the performance. The Red Door will define
space … tell us whether we’re inside or outside a room or building.”
Keeping all these factors in mind, challenge students to come up with their own creative
versions of possible set designs that fulfill some or all of the necessary requirements.
The Nature of Man
In order to acquaint students with the language and one of the main themes in the play,
examine the following script excerpt from DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE between Dr.
Henry Jekyll and his lawyer/friend Mr. Gabriel Utterson. It begins with Jekyll railing
against Sir Danvers Carew, Chief Surgeon at the College of London Hospital and goes on
to reveal Jekyll’s tortured view of what he calls “the nature of man.”
JEKYLL
“Sir Danvers.” The fool! If he can’t cut into it, he can’t fathom it. He rails against
voodoo and “savages”, then stands before a hundred students and gives credence to all
manner of superstitious – Utterson, I have seen in jungle clearings and island shores
levels of understanding advanced beyond anything contemplated in a college lecture
hall! I met a diviner in Suriname once who could calm his nerves by closing his eyes and
humming a bird’s song. A priest in a south seas hut who, with one draw of a pipe of
yellow smoke, left this reality for another plane, serene and at peace. There is a
distinction between the brain and the mind!
UTTERSON
Yes, but how do you get to the mind without going through the brain?
JEKYLL
You find an open door. One no one knows about. And once you’ve crossed its threshold,
you will find not one mind but two. Two streams within the consciousness, one on the
surface, the other subterranean. . . Think on your fear when a hansom cab comes
barreling ‘round a corner, and you dash for safety faster than you thought possible.
Our minds are fueled by blood and bile and secretions triggered by all manner of stimuli.
Coursing through our veins is the river of our old ways, before man created morality, in
the time when human hunted for food, killed for dominance, and copulated for pleasure.
Morality harnassed our bestial instincts, but it did not kill them. If it had, there’d be no
Empire. They’re all still deep inside us. We see hints, though, in the madman’s eyes, the
killer’s glint, the rage of the drunken father who beats his child. If we could find the
chemical balance that would isolate these rages, these horrors, wouldn’t we pursue their
cure?
UTTERSON
You’re talking about good and evil.
JEKYLL
I’m talking the nature of man.
UTTERSON
So you mix your powders, concoct your potions, banish ill-temper, anger, perversity …
what do you put in its place?
JEKYLL
Serenity … You don’t know what peace of mind means until you’ve been tortured by its
opposite.
Ask students what the script excerpt means to them and whether they are able to simplify
the text into their own words. What is each character’s position? Which character do
students agree or side with? Is there good and evil in us all? Do these qualities impact our
own lives on a daily basis, and, if so, how?
Ask students what the script excerpt means to them and whether they are able to simplify
the text into their own words. What is each character’s position? Which character do
students agree or side with? Is there good and evil in us all? Do these qualities impact our
own lives on a daily basis, and, if so, how?
POST-SHOW ACTIVITIES
Good and Evil
Examine the following quotations about the nature of good and evil.
“What can we know? What are we all? Poor silly half-brained things peering out at the
infinite, with the aspirations of angels and the instincts of beasts.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The Stark Munro Letters
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a
monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”
Frederick Nietzsche
“All things truly wicked start from an innocence.”
Ernest Hemmingway – A Moveable Feast
“There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it.”
Lord Voldemort – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
“Man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone
carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker
and denser it is.”
C.G. Jung
Have students each select one of the above quotes and write a brief essay relating it to the
play, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. Encourage them to recall moments in the play that
best fit their interpretations of the meaning of the chosen quote. Ask students to also
decide whether they agree or disagree with what the quote means to them.
Dear Diary
In the play, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, some of the story and characters’ feelings
are expressed through diary entries.
A relation of mine, name of Enfield, we meet for dinner once, twice a year to discuss
legal business. On one of those occasions we decided to visit a friend after and somehow
allowed our conversation to take us from the route. A wrong turn, a narrow lane, and
suddenly we came upon a door.
Utterson
Why could I not tell them there is no soul? Tell them that and the word gets ‘round I am
Jekyll the Agnostic, Jekyll the Atheist, the God Nay-Sayer. More fuel for the fire. More
ammunition for Sir Danvers Carew, the pornographer of death, the corrupt charlatan
who holds sway over idealistic young men who would be healers! And tomorrow morning
he wields his butcher blade again!
Jekyll
I went to see the fiend.
Elizabeth
I have instructed the servants that I may have to be away for a few days on business.
Jekyll
I came home by way of Regents Park. I don’t know why, it was out of the way, but it was
Sunday, late in the afternoon, and I had spent Saturday with my mother and sister, as
always, and that’s never pleasant, so perhaps I just wanted a bit of green and bird song
before I went back to Charing Cross. I stopped at a bench just off the path. And I saw
him.
Elizabeth
Previous entry…three days ago. I have lost three days. I do not know my self.
Jekyll
This shall be the last entry regarding the case of Mr. Edward Hyde. It is almost a full
year since the first successful manifestation. A year since the correct balance was found.
The perfect tincture capable of engendering both the transformation and its opposite.
Isolate the essence of the being, then reverse it back to its former state. Start the
blaze…then put it out.
Jekyll
On the basis of what students remember about the story told in the play, ask them to
select one of the entries and expand upon it as if they were that character in those
circumstances. If none of the suggested diary entries interest some students, perhaps they
might create one of their own from the point of view of one of the characters in the play.
Adaptations
There have been countless adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, Strange
Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, first published in 1886. Some omit the character of the
lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, and tell the story from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’s point of view.
Often these are played by the same actor. Other adaptations include a romantic element
which does not exist in the original story. Vertigo Theatre’s production of Jeffrey
Hatcher’s version does include that element, embodied by the character of Elizabeth
Jelkes.
Some notable adaptations include:
- the 1941 American film which was a remake of a 1931 version and starred Spencer
Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner.
- the 1996 American film, Mary Reilly, starring Julia Roberts and John Malkovich, based
on the novel by the same name which was a reworking of Stevenson’s plot centred
around a maid in Jekyll’s household named Mary Reilly.
- the 1997 American musical, Jekyll and Hyde with music by Frank Wildhorn, book and
lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.
- the 2007 British TV series included a contemporary Jekyll whose Hyde wreaks havoc in
modern London.
Divide students into small groups. Their task is to come up with a pitch for a film,
television or stage version of the Jekyll and Hyde story. Each group must decide what
their project would be like. Some questions to answer might be:
- Will this be a period or modern-day piece?
- Where will it be set?
- In an ideal world, who would star?
- Would they keep the story the same, use it as a guideline for the script, or come up with
their own adaptation? What might that be?
- Would their version be a drama, comedy, or perhaps a spoof or animation?
Once all the groups have their ideas together, they can then take turns pitching their
project to the rest of the class, followed by a brief question and answer session.
Actor Homework
When working on a scene in any play, actors are challenged to do their own homework.
Some of the questions they need to ask themselves are:
- What does my character really want and why?
- How far will my character go to get what he/she wants?
- What does my character know or need to find out?
- What does my character say or not say and why?
- What is my character thinking and feeling from moment to moment in the scene?
In the play, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, the scene in which Jekyll goes to the
Charing Cross Hotel to meet Elizabeth Jelkes is a pivotal one. Here are a couple of
excerpts, minus the stage directions.
JEKYLL
Are you on duty all evening, Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH
No, sir, the other chambermaid comes on til morning.
JEKYLL
So do you have a room here you sleep in, or are you going forth tonight?
ELIZABETH
Sir, I am expected below. If I do not go below, the Housekeeper will come looking for me.
JEKYLL
You misunderstand me. My intentions. I have no designs, no impropriety of any sort. I’ll
pay you.
ELIZABETH
Sir, I must - JEKYLL
NO!
JEKYLL
…Do you have a husband?
ELIZABETH
No
JEKYLL
A gentleman friend, though, surely … Yes I can see you do. It’s him you’re going to this
evening, isn’t it? Does he wait for you?
ELIZABETH
I never make him wait.
JEKYLL
Does he threaten you if you don’t do what he tells you?
ELIZABETH
Open the door
JEKYLL
Don’t go to him tonight - ELIZABETH
I’ll scream
JEKYLL
- - not tonight, I beg you!
He won’t be there!
He’ll never come again.
ELIZABETH
Who are you?
Ask students to prepare their actor homework for each character, beginning with why
Jekyll goes to the Charing Cross Hotel followed by answering the other questions
suggested in this activity as well as filling in any other details they are able to come up
with.
Student Play Review
We would love to know what your students thought of our production of DR. JEKYLL
AND MR. HYDE. Please encourage them to write and send us copies of their play
reviews. If they wish to be entered into a draw to receive 2 tickets to one of our upcoming
productions, they must include the following:
First name
Last name initial only
Grade
School name
Teacher contact name
School phone number
Date of the performance attended
Please fax 403-263-1611 or email play reports to:
nathan.pronyshyn@vertigotheatre.com
Once the draw is done, we will contact you and the school to let the student
know. The winning student may then get in touch with us regarding how and
when to pick up the tickets.
Before students write their reviews of DR. JEKYLL AND ME. HYDE, talk about the
role of a critic. Is the point of a review to merely describe the play and tell the story, or
offer opinions on the production?
You may wish to offer the following as a guideline for student play reviews.
Some play and film reviews offer a rating in the form of a number of stars (*), with
one star representing a weak rating and five stars representing a perfect one.
Assign your review of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE the number of stars you think it
merits.
Write a headline for your review that sums up your thoughts and feelings about
the production.
In your opening statement, state your expectations before you attended the
performance and whether or not they were met.
Follow with comments on some or all of the following play elements:
- style, story and themes of the play
- conflicts in the play
- direction
- acting
- scenic design
- costume design
- make-up design (if applicable)
- lighting and sound
In your closing statement, include any final thoughts on the production and
whether you would recommend it.
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Evaluation Form
Your Feedback is very important to us! Our series are growing rapidly and the
information you provide will help us to determine future programming, booking
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