Stream: Jekyll and Hyde

The Old Vic  

Archive Stream – Jekyll and Hyde – McOnie Dance Company 

If you are interested in see the work of one of the most sought-after choreographers worldwide then you can do no better than check out this scintillating dance theatre created especially for The Old Vic in 2015.   

The talents of Director/choreographer Drew McOnie, along with the collaboration and original music by Grant Olding, make this one of the most original dance theatre pieces for a long time. How did I miss it the first time around? Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s original story this production employs twelve outstanding dancers, a terrific revolving set, and a dynamic modern score. Both the choreography and music pay homage to dance and music if you can recognize them. Swirling  skirts and petticoats  for women and men ( ‘West Side Story’ – Dance at the Gym) , pot plants that grow (‘Little Shop of Horrors’), lyrical jazz moves ( Gene Kelly), naked showers (Kylie – Javier de Frutos) all wrapped up in a gothic horror  story. This is danced at lightning pace by the company never missing the fast lighting cues and effects. You can hear the audience gasp at the sound of a hapless victim having the neck broken. However, this darkness does not prevail until the second half. Set in Dr Jekyll’s flower shop there are moments of pure joy and humour in his gawky antics and wooing.  Danced by Daniel Collins, who is never offstage, his getting dressed routine is a marvel. What is it about flower shops in musicals? Having a different but similar dancer as Mr Hyde works well too. If anything, the second half is a bit long but with such gifted performers the story belts along at a terrific pace. Commissioned by Mathew Warchus, Artistic Director of The Old Vic, for me this is storytelling and dance theatre at its best.

This recording is on YouTube available until 7pm on the 12th of August.