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Actors Guild of Parkersburg readies ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’

Photo by Wayne Towner The Actors Guild of Parkersburg will present “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” for the next two weekends at the Guild Playhouse in downtown Parkersburg.

PARKERSBURG — The Actors Guild of Parkersburg will present the story of a man’s descent into madness with the classic story of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” for two weekends in September.

The performances will be 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sept. 29 and 30 at the Guild Playhouse at Eighth and Market streets in downtown Parkersburg, with a matinee at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 1.

The Guild will also be presenting a “nightinee” with a late performance at 11:30 p.m. Sept. 29. The Guild is partnering with the Lafayette Hotel in Marietta so those who purchase tickets to the late performance are entered into a drawing for two free tickets to a murder-mystery party in October at the Lafayette.

Tickets are sold out for Friday’s opening night performance but are available at $17 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets are available by calling 304-485-1300 or online at www.actors-guild.com.

Recommended for ages 13 and above, on the fog-bound streets of Victorian-era London, Henry Jekyll’s experiments with exotic “powders and tinctures” have brought forth his other self–Edward Hyde, a sensualist and villain free to commit the sins Jekyll is too civilized to comprehend.

When Hyde meets a woman who stirs his interest, Jekyll fears for her life and decides to end his experiments. But Hyde has other ideas, and so the two sides battle each other in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse to determine who shall be the master and who his slave.

“This is a very faithful adaptation of the original 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson,” director Brent Null, adding this version is adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher.

While many adaptations of the story are shown from Jekyll’s perspective, Null said the Guild production tells the story from the more traditional viewpoint of those around Jekyll and Hyde — his attorney, fellow doctors and other people who know and meet him.

Many portrayals of Jekyll and Hyde also focus on the changes between the normal Jekyll and the hideous Hyde, often using makeup and other special effects, but Null said the changes in the Guild production will focus on acting, not special effects.

“The unique thing about the production is that there is one man who plays Dr. Henry Jekyll — J.T. Spivy plays Dr. Jekyll throughout the entire production — but there are four actors who all play a different personality of Hyde. You don’t just see one Hyde, you see four and each one has their own unique mannerisms, their own unique personality, their own unique look. Each one is different and the transformation happens literally in front of your eyes on stage,” Null said.

Instead of good at one end and evil at the other, Null said the Guild production features a Hyde who is more representative of a person with multiple personalities. The production also works to show the deepening madness by often having one or more of the Hydes on stage with Jekyll.

“They will come on stage and be in and around him during the same time he is trying to interact as Jekyll with somebody else, a Hyde personality will try to break through,” he said.

The show is a challenge for much of the cast. Aside from Spivy’s single role as Jekyll, Joanie Owens also plays a single role as Elizabeth Jelkes. The other actors have multiple roles during the production, including one of the Hydes. That involves a number of quick costume changes and other challenges.

“It’s not only physical, it’s vocal, it’s emotional. It’s a huge challenge to go from one character to another in a very short amount of time,” Null said.

The rest of the cast includes Ben Bradley (Utterson/Hyde 1), Shawn Price (Lanyon/Hyde 2/Surgical Student/Police Doctor/Drunkard), David Prather (Enfield/Carew/Hyde 3/Inspector) and Natalie Bradley (Poole/Hyde 4/Old Woman/Maid/Surgical Student).

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