Liviu Monsted’s plays turns Stevenson’s tale on its head.

In Monsted’s take, Hyde, and not Jekyl, is the main character. We see Hyde experimenting in his laboratory. He is concocting a magic potion – a potion that he hopes will remove any goodness- which he perceives is a weakness- in his character.

A potion does ‘take’ – but his experiment fails him badly! Rather than hiding Jekyll, the potion brings out his Jekyll.

As much as I admired Monsted’s boldness in ‘playing around’ with Robert Louis Stevenson’s archetypal tale, his experiment doesn’t come up with any inspired results.There is no magic in this alchemy.

The play’s tone, as directed by the writer himself, is very tongue in chief and knockabout. The cast is hardworking and do their best with the material, including Monsted who plays the Hyde/Jekyll character.

In his writer’s note for the published play (published by Emu Publishing) Monsted wrote that with this play he jumped on the ‘spoof train’, as many stage and screenwriters have. If his intention was just to have a bit of fun, then he has met his brief. If he was after something more substantial, then he has fallen short.

A Mon Sans Production, Liviu Monsted’s HIDING JEKYL played a brief season at the King Street Theatre. Playing between the 6th and 10th December 2016.

http://www.monsansproductions.com/