WE ARE well into January now. We’ve had our share of twinkling fairy lights and the bright, warm glow that emerged from pantoland but now it’s time to watch theatre that reflects the cold. dark mood that’s crept into our souls. And Gary McNair’s new one-man version of Jekyll & Hyde could be just about perfect.
This time around the story of evil and madness and the drug-fuelled divided self is set in Edinburgh and stars Forbes Masson.
“I read the book when I was young,” says the London-based actor who grew up in Falkirk. “And although the Jekyll & Hyde story was set in London, I’ve always felt that it reeks of Edinburgh, with its dark opium dens of the time, and this is a very Scottish version.”
Masson has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in theatre. After exploding onto the stage with Alan Cumming in camp double act Victor and Barry, he became a Tron Theatre stalwart and when artistic director Michael Boyd left to join the Royal Shakespeare Company, Masson was asked to join the ensemble.
Now he is set to play Gabriel Utterson, Dr Jekyll’s close friend. “This story really is Utterson’s tale, told through his eyes,” he explains. “It’s a great explanation of what it’s like to have a friend who is a bit of a monster. And how someone could perhaps feel sort of responsible for that.”
The original story featured themes of mental health and drug addiction that are relevant today.
“It’s true, and the play is a study of human nature. It looks at the duality of the character, when someone can be a gentleman during the day – yet commits evil deeds at night. It makes us think it’s all too easy to dismiss people, and it makes us think about this darkness, this primeval thing that exists in all of us.”
He adds: “Utterson is a lawyer; he defends [people] and that’s the nature of the legal system. So, we ask the question, what is evil? There is this grey area weaving through the guilt he feels, as an enabler or whatever. And it sort of asks the question: by helping addicts do we help them remain an addict?”
Forbes Masson makes the point that in Gary McNair’s play, it’s almost as if Utterson is on trial, being guilty by association, and the audience is the judge.
“This is real horror. That there is something within us. It’s easy to dismiss monsters as ‘other’, it’s about someone who commits evil who happens to be your best friend. It’s almost like Utterson reflecting on having seen the signs in his friend. And so, what we have is a detective tale and the study of the psyche.”
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Forbes Masson isn’t confined to playing one character in the play. “I take on other roles as well,” he says, smiling. “But not in the sense of putting on different costumes – it’s quite subtly done. We didn’t want to do a Lon Chaney, the Man of a Thousand Faces sort of thing. With this production it’s more to do with a subtle change of voice, rather than putting on a silly hat or using a hairy hand.
“And there’s a meta thing going on the whole time in the play, whereby my character could well be a person with multiple personalities.”
The actor hasn’t been looking to past performances of his character in film or television.
“I try not to look at others in the role. Even if you don’t think you are stealing, or ‘paying homage’ as it’s sometimes known, it’s better to find the character in yourself. So, it’s me as Utterson. And it’s really exciting.”
The actor clearly wallows in the idea of exploring the inner darkness in all of us. He smiles as he reveals that Robert Louis Stevenson managed this all too well. “I heard a story that Stevenson’s wife read the first draft of the novel and threw it in the fire. Perhaps she was critical of the work, but the feeling is she thought the story too critical of people they both knew.”
Forbes Masson has also been going back in time in terms of a reconnection to his performance partner Alan Cumming, with whom he wrote BBC comedy cult, The High Life. “Alan and I have been working on a book called Victor and Barry’s Kelvinside Compendium which will be released in the summer,” he says with a delighted smile. “It’s a meander down a memory close.
“We’ve been in touch over the years and in doing the book we’ve had the chance to get back together. It’s great because we love each other’s company.”
Jekyll and Hyde, the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, until January 27; Perth Theatre, January 31-February 3; Dundee Rep, February 7-10 and Macrobert Arts Centre, February 15- 17
BOOK NOW
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See www.atgtickets.com
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