Jeffrey Hatcher's Adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde

(Image taken from Wikipedia)

Last night, I braved the traffic of downtown Indianapolis on my own as I headed to the Indiana Repertory Theatre's presentation of Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde."  Despite my apprehensions (I don't like to drive in unfamiliar territory or by myself in the evening), I made it smoothly into the Sun Garage (the cheapest parking option, within the Circle Center Mall - only $1.50 for the evening ... can't be beat) and across the street in time to not only claim my ticket but also hear the prologue presentation.

During the prologue, I was delighted to learn previously unknown facts about Robert Louis Stevenson.  I was unaware he fell in love with an Indianapolis-born, married woman, named Fanny Osbourne, who was living in France.  When he followed her back to the States (waiting for her to divorce her husband), he ended up "penniless, depressed, and near death ... [and] got lost near Monterey, California, where two ranchers nursed him back to health." (Taken from the playbill.) Interesting! 

It seems Fanny was seminal to his success as she nursed him, protected him from taxing visits from friends, and served as his chief editor.  They stated that Stevenson wrote "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" over the space of three days and when Fanny read his manuscript she claimed he nailed the horror aspect but failed in the moral instruction department.  Thus, he tossed the manuscript in the fire and rewrote it in another three days, producing the book, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as we now know it.  Amazing!

Sadly, I also learned that he died at the young age of 44.  He had always suffered from lung issues and was a smoker.  Just think of all the further writing he could have produced!

The IRT's production was well done.  I appreciated the stage design, where characters appeared from above, below, and the sides.  The actors did a superb job.  Hatcher's decision to use four characters to represent Hyde was intriguing and well-executed.  At one point, all four Hydes are reverberating in the brain of Dr. Jekyll quite effectively.

Although a tad raunchy (remarking over the private parts of the deceased body of a prostitute), I felt Hatcher's adaptation presented well the general theme of the good and evil living in us all.  The audience certainly came away with plenty to think about.

I was most grateful for the humor presented in the adaptation.  There were several times when I laughed audibly at the jokes included in the script.  Without the humor, the story might have come off with a darker tone and feel.

On the whole, I enjoyed this production of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."  I failed to re-read the novel before attending (as I had done with the production of "Dracula"), but imagine that, as with movies, the book is always better than the play.  Still, for a night out at the theater, the IRT's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" was a delightful experience.