EDFRINGE REVIEW: Jekyll and Hyde (Muchmuchmore Theatre)

Jekyll and Hyde – ★★★½ – Sharp 

Muchmuchmore Theatre
17-22 Aug
Review by Rebecca Mahar
 
Muchmuchmore Theatre, the in-house theatre company of Runshaw College, returns to the Fringe with another adaptation of classic literature in the form of Jekyll and Hyde, a re-imagining of Robert Louis Stevenson that relocates the dichotomies of human nature into a sociocritical lens connecting past and present.
 

A scene from Jekyll and Hyde. Pic: Muchmuchmore Theatre.

The show jumps between nineteenth century London, where the widowed Harriet Jekyll is beginning to pick up the threads of her husband’s research a year after her death, and the present day where Florence Monroe is being questioned by police about a possible connection between her tumblr blog and a murder investigation. However, it’s not as simple as two parallel stories existing at different point in time: the boundaries between these worlds are cracked, with Florence observing the past, and characters of the past interrupting themselves with the textual language of the future, until it becomes clear that Florence is the author of Harriet Jekyll’s —and Lady Hyde’s— story. 
 
Jekyll and Hyde is a multi-layered drama, tackling a slew of issues that are past, present, and eternal, focused on misogyny, double standards, and the ways in which society shields men while endangering women. In the past, Harriet faces the loss of her home and of her late husband’s research, until she reaches a breaking point and creates Lady Hyde. In the present, Florence faces harassment and injustice until she, and others like her, can no longer allow society to continue in its patriarchal complacency. The play bluntly reflects on the outsized impact of social media, where a few careless (or targeted and vicious) words can go viral and overshadow everything else about their victim.

A scene from Jekyll and Hyde. Pic: Muchmuchmore Theatre.

Structurally, Jekyll and Hyde generally works well, although the interruptions of the past characters by texting language and internet ads don’t make particular dramaturgical sense, or especially contribute to the story. While it’s a clever way to show the connection between their world and the “real” world they are unaware of their fictional part in, they in narrative form in posts on tumblr— why are they being interrupted by these other internet artifacts, or suddenly changing their language to include things like “Jk! Kiss kiss colon dash x star byeeeee”? 
 
The writing is strong enough, without these intrusions, to make clear the purpose of Harriet’s timeline and how it connects to Florence’s present— though it takes quite a while to warm up. There are also a few missed opportunities for additional commentary in keeping with the themes of the show, such as when a member of the Royal Society insists that Harriet cannot continue her husband’s research because it requires as scientist— a designation which was first recorded in 1834 for Mary Somerville, as “man of science,” could not be applied to her, nor was her scientific achievement deniable.

A scene from Jekyll and Hyde. Pic: Muchmuchmore Theatre.

The young company tackle this challenging material with commitment, with particularly notable performances from Grace Davies as Florence Monroe, Hayden Tierny as Gabriel Utterson, Daisy Stott as Harriet Jekyll, and Ruby Hunter as her counterpart Flossie Hyde. The technical aspects of the show are also of a high standard, with the cast executing many quick and efficient set and costume changes that never cause the show to drag or linger in silence. While the script could use a little more development, Jekyll and Hyde is a bold and incisive use of the inspiration of classic literature to comment on contemporary issues.
 
Running time: One hour with no interval
Venue: theSpace @ Venue 45 (Venue 45), 63 Jeffrey St EH1 1DH
17-22 August 2026 
Time: 10:10am
Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/jekyll-and-hyde