Jekyll & Hyde | Ballet Synopsis

JEKYLL & HYDE

Ballet in two acts based on the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

“He went down to the cellar to fetch a bottle of his favorite burgundy, uncorked it in the kitchen, and suddenly cried out to his wife: ‘What’s the matter with me, what is this strangeness, has my face changed?’ —and fell on the floor. A blood vessel had burst in his brain and it was all over in a couple of hours”.

Vladimir Nabakov on the death of Robert Louis Stevenson

 

SYNOPSIS

ACT I

Prologue: Stevenson’s Dream

Robert Louis Stevenson is lying in bed, ill and feverish, wrestling with a painful lung condition. He tries to write but is unable to concentrate. His nurse, Alison Cunningham, administers his nightly injection of opium to relieve the pain. As the drug begins to take effect, a sense of euphoria comes over Stevenson. An image begins to evolve in his mind of a respectable and upright man wrestling with his own dark impulses: this is Dr. Jekyll. In Stevenson’s imagination, Dr. Jekyll arrives at his laboratory, where he begins working on dangerous experiments that seek to explore the dual personality inside every human being. Stevenson slumps into sleep and in his nightmares, the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde emerges.

 

Scene 1: The Insane Asylum

The asylum is filled with mental patients, dominated by an intimidating Head Nurse. Dr. Jekyll and his colleague Dr. Lanyon enter the room arguing about Jekyll’s latest experiments into human personality, which Lanyon describes as “scientific balderdash.” Some wealthy benefactors have been invited to watch Jekyll demonstrate his treatment of mental illness in an effort to generate funds to further his work, but his efforts are a failure.

 

Scene 2: Dr. Jekyll’s Laboratory

Alone and dejected, Dr. Jekyll struggles with how to move his experiments forward. He returns to his laboratory and decides to experiment on himself. He creates and then ingests a dangerous potion designed to bring out what is hidden in his innermost consciousness. At the same time Stevenson takes more opium and we catch a glimpse of Mr. Hyde, the embodiment of evil that is within Jekyll, waiting to emerge. For a moment both Jekyll and Stevenson sense Hyde’s presence, but almost immediately, the feeling slips away. Has the experiment failed? In his frustration, Jekyll realizes that he’s late for Sir Danvers Carew’s social gathering.

 

Scene 3: The Street

Dr. Jekyll rushes through the rain-soaked night landscape of London towards Dr. Carew’s house. He can’t escape the feeling of Mr. Hyde within him.

 

Scene 4: Sir Danvers Carew’s Estate

We find ourselves at the home of Sir Danvers Carew filled with guests. Dr. and Mrs. Lanyon, Mr. and Mrs. Utterson, and Mr. Enfield and his fiancé. Dr. Jekyll arrives and is greeted by Sir Danvers, Mrs. Carew and their daughter, Jekyll’s fiancée – Nellie Carew. Nellie gives Jekyll the gift of an ornate cane and they begin an intimate conversation, but he is distracted, his mind still on his failed experiment. Carew invites his male guests to escape with him to Deacon Brodie’s Tavern for the rest of the evening.

 

Scene 5: Deacon Brodie’s Tavern

The men arrive at a bustling tavern, full of prostitutes, drugs and danger. Deacon Brody escorts in a young, novice prostitute named Rowena. When Brodie behaves badly towards Rowena, Dr. Jekyll tries to intervene to protect her. She is smitten by him. But as his libido rises, Jekyll becomes aggressive towards Rowena. Realizing that the potion has been successful and that Mr. Hyde, his “other self” is emerging, he grabs his coat and cane and attempts to flee. Rowena follows him from a distance.

 

Scene 6: The Street and Dr. Jekyll’s Hallucination

As Dr. Jekyll moves towards his house, Rowena trails behind him in the darkness. She sees Jekyll enter through a red door, the entrance to his laboratory and soon to become a portal to mayhem and destruction as Robert Lewis-Stevenson unleashes the evil of Mr. Hyde within Dr. Jekyll. Hyde emerges before our eyes, triumphant and fully formed.

 

Artists of Ballet West | Photos by Beau Pearson

​​​ACT II

 

 

Scenes 1 & 2: The Ballroom/The Street

In the midst of a brilliantly lit ballroom full of fashionable people, Mr. Hyde arrives and makes a grand entrance from the top of the staircase. The party guests greet Hyde, but everyone is mystified: who is this strange man who seems so familiar? Hyde flirts with Nellie and tries to seduce her. But at the height of the party, he starts to feel odd. The drug is wearing off. Realizing that he needs to escape before his secret is discovered, Hyde grabs his coat and cane and dashes up the steps and out into the street. In his panic, he collides with a child, whom he proceeds to beat mercilessly with his cane before disappearing into the night.

 

Scene 3: Mr. Hyde’s Hallucination

Mr. Hyde returns home, as Stevenson continues to activate the struggle between good and evil Inside Hyde. Another hallucination begins. Hyde fights to stay in the world of danger and violence that he has come to inhabit with such relish.

 

Scene 4: Dr. Jekyll’s Bedroom

Slowly the hallucination fades, and Mr. Hyde is transformed back into Dr. Jekyll. In his withdrawal, the apparition of Nellie Carew haunts him. Time passes. Jekyll is unable to return to his old self; he is alone, a ruined man.

 

Scene 5: Dr. Jekyll’s Laboratory

Dr. Jekyll, unkempt and disheveled, writes a letter with instructions that from now on, a man named Mr. Hyde should be allowed to freely enter his home. He shows it to his butler, Mr. Poole. Jekkyl’s colleagues force their way into the room to see what is happening to their reclusive friend, they urge him to come with them to Deacon Brodie’s Tavern. Dr. Lanyon stays behind for a moment to seek more information from Jekyll; reluctantly, Jekyll agrees to ingest the dangerous potion in front of Lanyon. Guided by Stevenson, Jekyll’s transformation begins. Lanyon is horrified to witness his friend turning into something so violent and unfamiliar.

 

Scene 6 & 7: Deacon Brodie’s Tavern/ The Street

Mr. Hyde arrives and takes over the tavern. He engages with the Madame and behaves in a sexually aggressive way towards Rowena, bullying the crowd and enjoying their fear. He then gives the Madame his card and instructs her to send Rowena to him later that evening. Rowena is frightened but has no choice. Hyde then stalks Sir Danvers Carew and hands him a calling card as well. He heads for the door, knowing that Carew will follow him into the street. Once they are outside and alone, Hyde wreaks his violence on the unsuspecting Carew, bloodying his cane in the process.

 

Scene 8: Dr. Jekyll’s Bedroom

Arriving back at his house with the bloody cane, Mr. Hyde waits behind the red door for Rowena, who arrives escorted by the Madame. As she approaches, Rowena recognizes the entrance to Mr. Jekyll’s home, but when the red door opens, it’s Hyde. Hyde pays the Madame and slams the door on her face, trapping Rowena inside. When Rowena sees the bloody cane, she immediately intuits her fate. A violent tussle ensues. As the Maid pounds on the door, Mr. Hyde strangles Rowena with her own scarf.

 

Scene 9: Dr. Jekyll’s Laboratory

Nellie forces her way into the laboratory and is shocked to see Mr. Hyde rather than Dr. Jekyll. Sensing danger, Nellie tries to run away, but Hyde stops her. As Hyde brutalizes Nellie, Jekyll struggles desperately to take over again; just as Hyde is about to murder Nellie, Jekyll is able to take control for a moment and Nellie escapes. Robert Lewis Stevenson makes his dual character confront one another.

 

Scene 10: The Confrontation

Left alone together, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde face off in a final battle for control. Ultimately, we realize that Hyde has completely taken over Jekyll’s inner self. Stevenson appears, once again, his mind flooded with opioids as he imagines the climax of his story, in which Dr. Jekyll is pushed into the abyss, leaving Mr. Hyde behind.

 

Scene 11: Epilogue

We find ourselves back in the asylum, where Mr. Hyde takes his place with the insane. Stevenson is in the final throes of his creation. In the last moments, a hemorrhage takes Stevenson’s life, and he sinks back onto the bed. Both he and his creation have finished their terrifying journey.

 

Artists of Ballet West | Photos by Beau Pearson