AUB Productions 
Palace Court Theatre, Bournemouth
Caroline Burr 
19 March 2026
This play is an adaptation by Neil Bartlett from the original 1886 gothic horror novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. As the director James Parker points out in the programme, it seeks to shine a light on the women affected by various plot twists in this ‘strange case’.
The show was well attended on the first night, with the audience seemingly engrossed in the action, some of them showing their appreciation with a standing ovation at the end. However, for me the story did not come over very clearly. It started in the middle of the tale in Act 1, and then in Act 2 gave us all the events which led up to the climax.
The design was well thought out and cleverly created the atmosphere of Victorian streets, various interiors and a morgue. Lighting was also used effectively to enhance the feeling of anxiety and dread, as well as horror, when Mr Hyde is found in his lair. Although it would have been helpful for the house lights to go down to signal the start of the play and go up to signal the interval. Without this my friend and I nearly went home after an hour, as we thought the show had finished!
Smoke was also used well to mimic London fog, but at one time became intrusive as we couldn’t see the actors! Most of the music choices were appropriate, but at times was too loud, which meant the actors needed to shout to be heard. The costumes, hair and makeup added authenticity to the piece, and it was good to see how many students from different courses were involved in supporting the BA (Hons) Acting students.
This production was very slick, with furniture, props and scenery being brought on at various points to indicate a change of scene. The cast of ten – nine women and one man worked very hard, and were obviously well rehearsed. However, a fair amount of the dialogue was delivered without much vocal variety, a lot of the time the higher registers were used and characters came across as quite angry, rather than afraid, anxious or distressed. It would have been good to have had more subtle emotions shown. Nina Bebington playing Utterson achieved this very well and was convincing as the lawyer. Dan Deare, as Mr Hyde, was also a treat to watch (particularly when he died!). I’m sure many in the audience found him quite grotesque. Claudia Costa played the tortured Dr Jekyll very well, making a particularly good job of the monologue at the start of Act 2. Eve Harris played Dr Stevenson with authority, and Sherraya Harding made a credible Matron, and this contrasted well with her scenes playing the servant. Several other members of the cast played gentlemen, whose purpose was to reflect the two incompatible aspects of the Jekyll/Hyde persona. I wasn’t sure that this always worked, as it seemed to confuse rather than illuminate the main messages of the narrative. The choreography which often accompanied their scenes was nicely done though.
Overall, the students did a good job in bringing this difficult piece to life, and coped with the huge amounts of dialogue well. The show continues for the next two nights at the Palace Court.
Photos courtesy of Red Manhattan.
