Death and depravity lurks in local theater. Eek!
Last night (Saturday, August 20, in case you were wondering), I moseyed on over to CBC to see a performance of the musical version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (yes, such a thing does exist), in the orchestra for which my mom was playing violin.
Duuuude--I'm sooo getting this poster for my room!
Anyhoo, as shows go it was fair. The performances were excellent (especially, of course, that of the poor guy who had to play both Jekyll and Hyde). Of course, as I find I often do, I had beefs with the written show, not the performance itself. One would expect the songs of a musical to be its highlights--rarely was that the case here. I would be watching the show, enjoying it, and then a song would fire up and I couldn't help but be like "Ah, man. Another song to sit through" (the solos were especially annoying that way). There were exceptions, of course, but I'd say about half the music could have been chopped out; it often seemed to just get in the way of the plot. Not, once again, that the songs were badly performed, but they were often just boring by nature.
Anyway, that's not what I'm really wanting to post about here. I'll just wrap up my critique by saying this: if this show comes along in your area, it's probably worth seeing, but be prepared for boring bits.
Many of us are familiar with the story of Jekyll and Hyde. It appears to be simply another mad scientist story. But if you think about it, the story is actually quite creepy because, in a sense, it's true. Or it could be. Robert Louis Stevenson's idea was that all people are made of two halves: the good side and the evil side, and both these sides are constantly warring for dominance. Most of the time, the good side of us manages to keep control; we are, essentially, good people. But there are many times in the day when the Hyde in us will break out, just for a moment or two, cause some damage, then slither back under the surface.
You could think of it as a definition of sin. Every sin we commit is a small victory for Hyde; a small hole he manages to punch in our shell of general goodness. The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is speculation about how it would be if Hyde got out--and stayed out.
The Jekyll in us is control, conscience, desire to do good for ourselves and others. Hyde, on the other hand, is the polar opposite: an uncontrolled, uncaring animal that doesn't give a rip for anything but personal pleasure/gain. It has been said that sociopaths, like Jeffrey Dahmer, have no conscience. They no longer care about anything other than satisfying base desires and morbid obsessions. This is why Jeffrey Dahmer enjoyed luring, raping, murdering and mutilating his numerous victims. The Jekyll in him had been defeated, and Hyde was victorious.
Most of us don't let Hyde get extensive control over every aspect of our lives. Some do, however, allow him to control parts. For example, a sixteen-year-old boy keeps Hyde in check at home and at school--mostly--but then, on that party on Friday night, he turns Hyde loose, fills himself up with beer, goes roaring down the street at one in the morning, and then ends up under a pile of smoking rubble. Hyde kills.
The average Joe, however, probably tries to always keep Hyde under control. There are times, though, like I said, when he'll be allowed out for a moment at a time. Sometimes, these brief releases become more common, and Hyde is let out more and more often--oh, but just for a minute or so. But even if it's only for a moment or so, the more often we let Hyde out, the more powerful he becomes, bit by bit, like those small snakes that can slowly stretch their jaws over an ostrich egg and swallow it. Hyde is patient, he is cunning, he will slowly spread his jaws over you if you let him. He doesn't care how long it takes, so long as he gets you, eventually.
Let's not let that happen.
Duuuude--I'm sooo getting this poster for my room!
Anyhoo, as shows go it was fair. The performances were excellent (especially, of course, that of the poor guy who had to play both Jekyll and Hyde). Of course, as I find I often do, I had beefs with the written show, not the performance itself. One would expect the songs of a musical to be its highlights--rarely was that the case here. I would be watching the show, enjoying it, and then a song would fire up and I couldn't help but be like "Ah, man. Another song to sit through" (the solos were especially annoying that way). There were exceptions, of course, but I'd say about half the music could have been chopped out; it often seemed to just get in the way of the plot. Not, once again, that the songs were badly performed, but they were often just boring by nature.
Anyway, that's not what I'm really wanting to post about here. I'll just wrap up my critique by saying this: if this show comes along in your area, it's probably worth seeing, but be prepared for boring bits.
Many of us are familiar with the story of Jekyll and Hyde. It appears to be simply another mad scientist story. But if you think about it, the story is actually quite creepy because, in a sense, it's true. Or it could be. Robert Louis Stevenson's idea was that all people are made of two halves: the good side and the evil side, and both these sides are constantly warring for dominance. Most of the time, the good side of us manages to keep control; we are, essentially, good people. But there are many times in the day when the Hyde in us will break out, just for a moment or two, cause some damage, then slither back under the surface.
You could think of it as a definition of sin. Every sin we commit is a small victory for Hyde; a small hole he manages to punch in our shell of general goodness. The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is speculation about how it would be if Hyde got out--and stayed out.
The Jekyll in us is control, conscience, desire to do good for ourselves and others. Hyde, on the other hand, is the polar opposite: an uncontrolled, uncaring animal that doesn't give a rip for anything but personal pleasure/gain. It has been said that sociopaths, like Jeffrey Dahmer, have no conscience. They no longer care about anything other than satisfying base desires and morbid obsessions. This is why Jeffrey Dahmer enjoyed luring, raping, murdering and mutilating his numerous victims. The Jekyll in him had been defeated, and Hyde was victorious.
Most of us don't let Hyde get extensive control over every aspect of our lives. Some do, however, allow him to control parts. For example, a sixteen-year-old boy keeps Hyde in check at home and at school--mostly--but then, on that party on Friday night, he turns Hyde loose, fills himself up with beer, goes roaring down the street at one in the morning, and then ends up under a pile of smoking rubble. Hyde kills.
The average Joe, however, probably tries to always keep Hyde under control. There are times, though, like I said, when he'll be allowed out for a moment at a time. Sometimes, these brief releases become more common, and Hyde is let out more and more often--oh, but just for a minute or so. But even if it's only for a moment or so, the more often we let Hyde out, the more powerful he becomes, bit by bit, like those small snakes that can slowly stretch their jaws over an ostrich egg and swallow it. Hyde is patient, he is cunning, he will slowly spread his jaws over you if you let him. He doesn't care how long it takes, so long as he gets you, eventually.
Let's not let that happen.
posted by James at
2:51 PM
