Rowan theatre takes original approach to 'Dr. Jekyll' story

Exploring a new approach to the classic “Jekyll and Hyde” story, Rowan University’s Department of Theatre & Dance brings two internationally-acclaimed theatre artists to campus for an experimental and original work, The Last Days of Dr. Jekyll. Performances are November 12 – 15, Thursday-Saturday at 7 and 9 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, in the Westby Hall Performance Lab on the university’s Glassboro campus.

Directed by Scotland’s Peter Clerke, with co-director and choreographer Melanie Stewart, The Last Days of Dr. Jekyll is a “devised show” scripted by John Clancy. Together, Clancy and Clerke created a framework, from which the playwright wrote a script that has continued to evolve during rehearsals with the student cast.

“The process is very alive and it means that ownership of the piece belongs to the whole company,” Clerke said, emphasizing the collaborative effort between writer, directors and cast.

The show takes the classic story and puts it into a contemporary context, examining a host of 21^st century issues: the duality of the human being, the pharmaceutical industry, the H1N1 virus, euthanasia, a desire for profits at all costs and the nature of existence.

In this telling, Edward Jekyll, a brilliant young research scientist, discovers papers linking his family to the protagonist of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and envisions the world falling at his feet…if he can untangle the scribbled formula that created the ruthless Mr. Hyde. What follows is an exploration of Jekyll’s creation of a pill, called “Zytgst,” and the struggles and complications that arise in bringing it to the public.

The production incorporates movement as well, for the actors and the audience. Each performance will be limited to about 40 audience members and they will be situated in a unique way within the space, which is the black box Performance Lab in Westby Hall.

The cast includes Rachel Bauer of Woolwich, Kelly Boeckle of Williamstown, Jennifer Buckley of Westampton, Andrew Clotworthy of Centerville MD, Maggie Corl of Doylestown PA, Jodi Dever of Ocean View, Jeffrey Flood of Franklinville, Jenna Kuerzi of Mullica Hill, Kelsey Malone of Tabernacle, Kevin Melendez of West New York, Juan Emilio Sanchez of Teaneck, Kevin Santana of Sicklerville and Isaiah Showell of Pleasantville.

Clancy is an award-winning playwright as well as an OBIE award-winning director, executive director of the League of Independent Theater and founding artistic director of both Present Company and the New York International Fringe Festival. He has been honored by the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Glasgow Herald and New York magazine.

Clerke is founder and co-artistic director of the experimental Scottish theatre company, benchtours, and has directed or performed in all of their productions. Particular achievements include directing touring productions of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle and Mother Courage and Her Children and adapting and performing in Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories. He previously directed Rowan productions of Antigone (1996) and Twelfth Night (2003).

Westby Hall Performance Lab is on the lower level of Westby Hall on the campus of Rowan University, Route 322 in Glassboro, NJ. There are a limited number of tickets available for each performance, so reservations are recommended. Tickets are $10, general admission; and $5 for seniors, alumni, staff and non-Rowan students. Tickets for Rowan students are free with valid ID.  For information and advance tickets, visit www.rowan.edu/theatredance or call the box office at (856) 256-4545.