Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

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This production calls for an ensemble cast of eight – four men and four women portraying 23 roles in Victorian London, circa 1883. The roles of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Elizabeth Jelkes are played solely by one actor and one actress. The rest of the ensemble will play all the rest of the characters in the show – doubling characters, sometimes within moments – including four distinct versions of Edward Hyde, which are played by the remaining three men and one of the remaining women.

Auditioners will be asked to read a monologue from the show, as well as other scenes as directed. All age ranges will be considered, though auditioners must be over 18. Please note that this is a show dealing with mature subject matter.

The characters in this production include:

DR HENRY JEKYLL – Brilliant and driven to a fault. Well respected and loved by his friends, but not without his own darker demons – even separate from those of Mr. Hyde. Unlike the stereotypical film and stage portrayals, this is the Jekyll of Stevenson’s original novella – not evil, but not completely good, either.

EDWARD HYDE – Mercurial and unpredictable, Hyde begins as a projection of Jekyll’s darker side, assuming various forms depending on the circumstances – like a chorus of voices. He gradually becomes a soul unto himself as the scales of good and evil shift between him and his creator. Hyde is played distinctly by the three men and one woman who also play UTTERSON, CAREW, ENFIELD, LANYON and POOLE.

ELIZABETH JELKES – A young chambermaid at a hotel in the Charing Cross district of Victorian London, she first confronts Hyde after he runs down her little sister and pays for the privilege. After a first violent encounter, she willingly becomes his mistress – a relationship that changes her, him, and Jekyll.

GABRIEL UTTERSON – A London solicitor and friend of Henry Jekyll. His diary is serves as the chief narrative of the play.

RICHARD ENFIELD – A relative of Utterson and friend of Dr. Jekyll. He makes the first connection between Jekyll and Hyde by recounting the tale of Hyde running down a little girl, then paying for the incident with a check drawn on Jekyll’s personal account.

DR H.K. LANYON – A colleague of Dr. Jekyll’s at the College of London Hospital. Jekyll confides in Lanyon about the darker side of his work.

SIR DANVERS CAREW – An adversary to Dr. Jekyll at the College of London. Arrogant and cocksure in his views on people are as simple as autopsying the corpse of a street victim – something he does with pleasure.

POOLE – Dr. Henry Jekyll’s faithful and always present butler. NOTE: This is played by the same actress who also plays the fourth version of HYDE.

Other Characters:

INSPECTOR O.F. SANDERSON (a private detective), A PROSTITUTE, POLICE INSPECTOR, POLICE PHYSICIAN, SURGICAL STUDENTS, A MAID, AN OLD WOMAN, A LITTLE GIRL, A DRUNKARD, A HOTEL CLERK, MORGUE ORDERLIES.

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