HYDE: At Paper Wing Fremont
As
familiar as I was with the story of Henry Jeckyll and Edward Hyde,
nothing I’ve experienced before could prepare me for this Victorian
Thriller adapted for the stage by Patrick Golden and Beverly Van Pelt.
Their adaptation is a story that is utterly transfigured from the bare
bones skeleton of the original with a twist I didn’t see coming- as the
play has now run its course, no one else will see it coming again for
quite some time and I still won’t spoil it here. The story centers
around the sensationalized true life murders committed by “Jack the
Ripper”, revealed to be the brutal Hyde in the opening moments of the
play. This isn’t something new as Hyde and Ripper have been tied
together before in other films. The story is revealed through the
intervention of Jeckyll’s University flame, Dr. Lenore Lanyon(Beverly Van Pelt). A
physician equally enamored with the nature of human “duality”, she is
the only one who may be able to understand and unravel the mystery
surrounding the good doctor, the murders, and what lays behind the true
mystery of the story.
The
dialogue is quick-witted and darkly humorous with plenty of gallows
humor that may leave you laughing, squirming, or equal bits of both.
Golden takes the lead as Hyde/Jeckyll, a loathsome man covered in scars
and quick with a bottle or a knife. His performance is filled with
anger- anger at the world, anger at his scarred visage, anger at
perceived threats and hatred for everything. There's a certain sense of paranoia and a guarded study of the room at nearly all times. He is in sharp contrast to
the younger version of Jeckyll (Larry Oblander III), a quick witted
doctor with a flair for riddles and jokes. We are shown both versions of
the character through flashbacks before this dual nature is revealed in
the plays final moments. Oblander is plainly terrific in his role-
equal parts likeable and ultimately consumed by his work.
Van
Pelt and Kelsey Posey each pull duty as co-directors and lead the
audience through a highly stylized production, possible nods to German
Expressionism and Hammer Studio productions throughout and a cast that
took the material every bit as serious at is should with comedic aspects
coming about organically. Amanda Platsis pulls double duty as a
conniving Madam Paine and the attending surgeon at an autopsy. Both
roles completely different and equally biting with humor. Jesse Juarez
delivers an intense performance as the erstwhile Police surgeon on the
trail of Jack, Cheryl Karoly is solid as the suspicious maid and
one-time caretaker to Dr. Jeckyll, while Robert Feeney takes his
performance to manic highs as a true life suspect in the string of East
End murders, “Russian” Mike. Accents may have been a little spotty in
parts, but it hardly slowed the show down.
After
the show I found myself lost in thought- it was an interesting twist on
an old tale. A consideration on what we consider familiar and how we
can make a change to those familiar stories- in an age where Hollywood
is constant “rebooting” old films and delivering stale sequels to pad
their studios it’s a way to approach material and keep it fresh with a
few additional questions. Golden delivers a chilling performance near
the end- an introduction of s5orts that chills.
4.5 out of 5.
SPECTRE
How do I start this?
SOOOOOOPAH SPIES!!!!
James
Bond, Double-OH-OH-SEVEN is back! This is the fourth outing for Mr.
Daniel Craig in the role of our erstwhile spy In Her Majesty’s Service
and I am totally psyched!!! Can you tell? I hope you can tell- I hope
you understand that it’s not always horror, blood, guts, and carnage
‘round these here parts and there’s the occasional foray into other
“genre” films. I hope you know that, dear faceless reader, and by all
means keep reading on. Because I love the spy genre- to be more
specific, the superspy genre!
And
this year’s Bond is hitting right from the get-go with a beautiful long
shot that captures everything we need to know about the character. Even
if you’ve never seen a Bond film, this is everything you need to know-
he’s walking with a beautiful woman, he’s moving through a crowded
festival with a sense of purpose, and he’s out to perform some specific
task with a flippant comment and intense focus. This is Bond- and the
opening moments of the film are filled with a non-stop action sequence.
Assassination attempts, explosions, a slow chase through a crowded
festival, a helicopter, explosions, and those familiar horns hit to
signal the opening credit sequence.
From
here on out, the film is pure comfort food- Craig is fantastic as Bond
and has completely reinvented the role for himself. He’s grittier,
edgier, and much less suave than the Sean Connery pastiche we’ve seen in
other Bonds. But no Bond is complete without a villain to be his equal-
and I’m sure some fans were absolutely salivating to see what kind of
man would be stepping up to take a swing at our hero. Christoph Waltz
bears that honor- oh, and what an HONOR it is when his plan and identity
are fully revealed. And professional wrestler Dave Bautista (Guardians
of the Galaxy) also steps in as an enforce “Odd Job” sort of character- a
man of few words and brutal actions. And in the end- I absolutely LOVED
this film!!!
BUT!!!
That’s
sentiment talking and I’m not really giving the film an objective view.
The truth of the matter is that while the movie is well acted, well
directed, and put together very nicely- there are huge flaws in the film
that I would be silly to not bring up. The script is a bit of a mess
and there are some truly hackneyed moments. It reads almost like
fan-fiction in certain parts and that great and amazing reveal is almost
spoiled by the attachment of an historic link that was never needed or
really even wanted. The requisite “Bond-girl” comes off as almost
forgettable, despite lame attempts to make her a supposedly stronger
character- despite lip service to her competence, knowledge, and ability
she is really only ever portrayed as the “Damsel in distress” so often
complained about.
I STILL LOVE THE MOVIE!!!
But it's not a great film and isn't the best Bond ever. It's still very satisfying and fun, but I'd be remiss to not point out some of the flaws.
4 out of 5.
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