The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson, in an adaption by Noah Smith

On June 16^th, 17^th, 18^th and 19^th, 2016

London, in the year 1888. Dr. Henry Jekyll, a respected scientist, publishes an article with a content so unbelievable that his fellow scientific colleagues can do nothing but dismiss it: Jekyll claims to have found a drug able to bring men’s “inner evil nature” to life – a drug that can wash away all social constraints and allow man to live their desires freely. Even his best friends, Dr. Hastie Lanyon and Gabriel John Utterson, do not believe in Jekylls formula. – Until an alleged assistant of Jekyll’s, the mysterious Edward Hyde, appears on the scene and seemingly unconnected murders start shaking up London. Who is this Mr. Hyde?

With Dr. Jekyll ad Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson created a classic of world literature, an intriguing mystery thriller full of philosophical questions: Does men’s inner nature have the right to express itself? And may we, or must we even, support it in its efforts? What rights do men have regarding their desires? And what if these desires start claiming their rights? Actor’s Nausea explores these topics in Noah Smith’s contemporary (2003) adaption set in Victorian London.