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Slapstick ‘Jekyll’ a hit
By John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinAn old-time production of Robert Louis Stevenson's horror story, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," becomes the vehicle for a sugar-coated parable about dealing with your "dark side" as Honolulu Theatre for Youth presents Russell Davis' "The Travelling Jekyll & Hyde Show" at Richardson Theatre.
Kids are likely to relate most readily to the slapstick elements but discussion sessions before and after the performance will help them focus on the designated issue: What do you do when you lose control of yourself and your "bad side" takes over?
The premise of Davis' play is only slightly more complicated. Stressed-out Nigel Entwickle (Walter Eccles) is trying to keep his show on the road even though the carnage of an unidentified overseas war has forced him to hire women as replacements for the rest of the company (Entwickle's accent suggests that the story takes place in England rather than the United States; set designer John Parkinson's backdrop suggests that the time is World War I).
The Travelling Jekyll & Hyde Show: By Honolulu Theatre for Youth, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Richardson Theatre. $10 adults, $7.50 students with ID, $5 ages 3-12 and 60 and up; under 3 free, but ticket required. Call 839-9885
Entwickle is overbearing and bombastic in a cartoonish way. The others -- Lady Peggy Dill (Cynthia See), Chantal Baboot (Cheryl Bartlett) and Penny Twinkling (Nara Springer) -- are evidently less than world-class talents at their best and his behavior has them too flustered or hostile to perform as well as they might.
The show within the show quickly becomes a comic shambles of malfunctioning props, pratfalls and missed cues. The HTY cast does a terrific job playing "bad."
The hapless "Piggy" Dill (Dr Jekyll) has problems with the oversize hands of her costume. Twinkling (Jekyll's butler) pops out on stage almost every time she hears certain words uttered in any context even when they aren't intended as her cue.
The women's costumes include moustaches on sticks that they hold in front of their faces. Baboot somehow ends up holding two of them; Bartlett manipulates them with great comic affect.
An anachronistic bit of modern martial arts posturing is the only jarring note. Director Mark Lutwak and the cast have enough going on that they need take no shortcuts to get the audience involved. There's enough in the performances to make this show of interest a second time.
Whether Entwickle is a bad man trying to control women or simply a stressed-out guy with a short temper and poor leadership skills is a matter of opinion. Mainstream views on acceptable male and female behavior have changed tremendously in the last 80 years. Slapstick is still good for laughs however, and HTY's "The Travelling Jekyll & Hyde Show" will have kids laughing even if they miss the deeper message.
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