Leyland’s Muchmuchmore Theatre returns to the Fringe with a brand new play by Evan Placey.

Experimental fringe theatre like this should be applauded because too many of today’s productions are one-handers with familiar constructs. This show is far from that. It riffs off Stevenson’s well known conventions but radically reinterprets them.

Daisy Stott is an excellent and composed Harriet Jekyll playing opposite Ruby Hunter as the anti-hero, Flossie Hyde, who frequents the Fox and Hound tavern that doubles up as a brothel.

Hayden Tierney plays Jekyll’s lovelorn admirer, detective Gabriel Utterson, but she is unattainable and so he opts instead to hit on Hyde, down the Fox and Hound. ‘I don’t normally associate with fallen women,’ he tells Hyde as he closely associates with her.

Utterson is investigating the death of Dr Jekyll – a year after his suspicious passing – and Jekyll’s widow (an old friend it would seem) is an obvious suspect. Meanwhile Madam Jekyll, dressed in a black mourning gown, is denied permission by the Royal Society to carry on her late husband’s work, because she’s a woman.

This is central to the theme of this feminist reimagining of the original Robert Louis Stevenson classic. And to be honest this would have been enough to create an interesting new take ion the classic.

The additional layer that Placey adds to the show becomes problematic in the show’s communication and comprehension. The play is set in both the present day and the original Victorian London, nearly 150 years later the writer is keen to point out that female exploitation continues and the rise of the manosphere is threatening women the world over.

A present day feminist blogger (Florence Munro, played by Grace Davies) is shoehorned into the original story as she explores the story of J&H in her daily musings. Trouble is, it’s inspired a killing and this has put her under suspicion. The fact that the police are so committed to this murder investigation but took absolutely no interest in Florence’s recent sexual harassment claim is enraging her as it clearly demonstrates where police priorities lie.

Including a large chorus the 20 or so strong cast do their utmost to bring this ambitious production to life. There are a couple of really interesting dance/ movement sequences. One in particular involves a pretty high tariff backwards crowd surf by Stott, and costumes and staging are impressive.

Where the production suffers is in the rather confusing integration of the two time settings which take a while to land, and in the occasionally rather shouty delivery of some cast members (emotional responses quite often go from 0-60 in a nanosecond) which highlights some of the young cast’s lack of experience. A slightly lighter touch would have been more effective.

But it’s a bold, brave, and in places quite fruity, production with much to like. Maybe its ambitions are beyond this group’s capabilities and there’s probably more than an hour’s material here trying to squeeze itself into the rigid timings of Fringe conventions.

But despite these drawbacks it’s a compelling hour of original theatre with much to celebrate and enjoy.

Jekyll and Hyde is at Venue 45 at theSpace @ Venue 45 until Sat 22 Aug 2026