Staging a Classic

In the vein of Dracula and Nicholas Nickleby, Orlando Shakes is tackling their next Goldman Theater production, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in a richly artistic manner. Staging and costumes will lend themselves to the dualities found in the timeless narrative, yet the most innovative hallmark of this production lies in Jeffrey Hatcher’s script: Hyde is portrayed by not one, but four actors.

The multiple Hydes represent the complex evils and bestialities found in all men; Dr. Jekyll’s wicked inner nature is personified four-fold. An exceptionally dramatic moment finds the Hyde plurality on stage, voicing an array of vengeful thoughts, words, and deeds. The stage’s commanding Hyde (noted by his possession of a silver cane) finds that resisting his vices is futile.

We recently got the chance to sit down with Jeffrey Hatcher, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde playwright, to get a better look at the four Hydes he created:

OST – You know the four Hydes intimately; do you have a favorite?

Hatcher – “Hyde 3, the Hyde who interacts the most with Elizabeth and with Jekyll. I had fun writing him because his character—his piece of Jekyll’s psyche—develops the most over the course of the play. He is the Hyde Elizabeth falls in love with. He is the Hyde who plots against Jekyll and engages him in a cat and mouse game. Running a close second is Hyde 4, the female Hyde.”

Hyde 3 (Steven Lane) courts Elizabeth (Gemma Victoria Waldon).

OST – What dimensions of Hyde’s personality were you able to convey by utilizing a female Hyde?

Hatcher – “Hyde 4, aka the female Hyde, allowed me to play bait-and-switch in the early goings of the relationship between Hyde and Elizabeth. Hyde 3 can’t tell Elizabeth what he wants from her, why he’s following her. Hyde 1 and Hyde 2 suggest approaches with portents of violence, but only Hyde 4 is able to make a connection with Elizabeth. In the context of the Hydes, the feminine side is the softest side, which is more appealing to Elizabeth than brute force or an overtly sexual offer. It’s as if a man is employing a metrosexual/Alan Alda approach when meeting a woman at a bar. Of course, Hyde 4 will later return and prove to be as brutal as the other Hydes, so I wouldn’t stretch the “soft” metaphor too far.”

OST – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a classic, retooled time and again in pop culture. What about this story continues to resonate with audiences?

Hatcher – “We’re attracted to the idea that we can separate the good aspects of our personalities/characters from the bad, that behavior thought to be repellent, vile, evil, can be assigned to a foreign element. It absolves us; it removes the notions of agency, responsibility and guilt. At the same time, the idea that one could perform vile, violent acts under the guise of a different face, a different voice is very seductive. What could I get away with if no witness recognized the perpetrator as me?”

Hyde 3 (Steven Lane) menaces Elizabeth (Gemma Victoria Waldon).

OST – Do you believe that everyone has an inner demon (an inner Hyde) bubbling at the surface? Without a potion, what can provoke a Hyde manifestation of the mind and body?

Hatcher – “I don’t believe there’s an inner-demon such as Stevenson described, but I know that a good person can behave badly under certain circumstances: under the influence of drugs, alcohol, stress, a violent encounter. There are scores of married couples who, when they divorce, become (for their former spouses) the personifications of evil. Yet in every other interaction with friends, family, acquaintances and strangers, they remain the decent, good people who fell in love and married.”

Dr. Jekyll (Timothy Williams) and Elizabeth (Gemma Victoria Waldon)

OST – This Hyde is strangely endearing to the point that the audience almost roots for him and Elizabeth as a pairing. Was maintaining that tension something you were mindful of in your writing process?

Hatcher – “Very much so. I never bought into the idea that Hyde was irredeemably evil or that Jekyll was perfectly good. No one is perfectly good. So I started with the premise that there must be some good in Hyde, just as there must be some bad in Jekyll; and as the play progressed, the percentages would shift, as would the audience perception of the characters. I hope the audience is rooting for Hyde at the end, regardless the crimes he’s committed. It’s one of the things that excited me the most in writing the play.”