Bucks &amp; Oxon

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1331" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_BAR-001.jpg" alt="Jekyll &amp; Hyde Creation Theatre bar" class="wp-image-204062" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_BAR-001.jpg 2000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_BAR-001-800x532.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_BAR-001-1000x666.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_BAR-001-400x266.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_BAR-001-1536x1022.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Andrew Walmsley</figcaption></figure>



Any production with a dedicated bar manager (top hats off to Will Van Walwyck) is already our kind of show. It’s pretty fitting that <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/little-black-book/directory/creation-theatre-company-oxford/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Creation Theatre</a>’s seasonal debut, <a href="https://creationtheatre.co.uk/show/jekyll-hyde-2/?utm_source=Muddy&amp;utm_medium=Ad&amp;utm_campaign=JH26" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jekyll &amp; Hyde</a>, starts at a very elegantly dressed Victorian bar; you can clink your themed cocktail-charged chemistry beakers to toast Oxfordshire’s largest producing theatre company’s 30th birthday for starters. They’re kicking off their fourth decade with theatrical thrills and chills at Oxford’s opulently dressed yet industrial OVADA gallery, and as always with this crew, the location couldn’t be more befitting of the eerie Victorian drama that goes down during the 90 min show.



I’ll start with a hot tip: arrive early not only to soak up the atmosphere and sip a Jekyll &amp; Hyde cocktail as the actors mill around, but also to score the cushy velvet sofas on the FROW. You’ll likely be treated to a mid-performance tipple from this vantage point, although wherever you’re sat in the appropriately creepy gallery, you’ll be right in the heart of the action.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1333" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_-Party-026.jpg" alt="Jekyll and Hyde cast Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-204064" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_-Party-026.jpg 2000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_-Party-026-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_-Party-026-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_-Party-026-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde_-Party-026-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Alex Ansdell as Sir Danvers Carew, Jim Scott as Dr Jekyll and Jack Benjamin as Mr Utterson. Photo: Andrew Walmsley.</figcaption></figure>



The 140-year-old story unfolds in lamplit Victorian London, complete with ghostly city haze by lighting designer Will Alder, and the fact that the novella plays out in one interval-free act only ramps up the intensity. Jim Scott plays Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde artfully and energetically, darting from the spooky, shadowy lab on the mezzanine to the genteel central drawing room and into the audience as he shapeshifts from esteemed doctor to monstrous, murdering villain. 



There’s no elaborate make-up or props to signify the mask slipping; his posture, face and demeanour warp into a character that’s immediately threatening and clearly out of control. This makes the switch from Jekyll to Hyde even more telling and universal; such transformations can happen before our very eyes to people in society that we might not expect, without a big red flashing sign declaring them a ‘villain’.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1331" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Potions.jpg" alt="Hyde Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-204065" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Potions.jpg 2000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Potions-800x532.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Potions-1000x666.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Potions-400x266.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Potions-1536x1022.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Jim Scott as My Hyde. Photo: Andrew Walmsley.</figcaption></figure>



Speaking of shapeshifters, Oxford’s own Alex Ansdell plays no fewer than four characters with ease and panache. He’s magnetic to watch as loyal but eventually suspicious butler Poole, the declining Dr Lanyon, Utterson’s pal Mr Enfield and the pompous but hilarious Sir Danvers Carew. He especially shines in the party scene when he (gently) breaks the fourth wall with an audience member, quickly becoming the guffawing dinner party guest of nightmares. His walk home doesn’t quite go to plan, as everyone who’s clued up on the plot will well know, so avert your eyes if you’re averse to a bit of gore. Creation Theatre isn’t playing it safe, which is kind of the point. There’s danger lurking both in the shadowy corner of the OVADA, and in Hyde’s mind.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1333" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Wall-shadow-010.jpg" alt="Murder scene Jekyll and Hyde" class="wp-image-204068" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Wall-shadow-010.jpg 2000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Wall-shadow-010-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Wall-shadow-010-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Wall-shadow-010-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Wall-shadow-010-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /></figure>



Jack Benjamin as lawyer Dr Utterson plays it straight, because someone around here has to, remaining grounded and reasoned as Victorian social norms demand. He teams up with Ansdell to provide the majority of the haunting, jaunty soundtrack to the show on an upright piano, with music composed and ‘twisted’ by Alex Silverman based on the groundbreaking work of Victorian composer Alice Mary Smith. In an era where women were only considered capable of performing parlour music, she strode ahead to write successful symphonies, and the inclusion of her work here brings some powerful female energy to an all-male play.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1331" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Mr-Hyde.jpg" alt="Creation Theatre Jekyll and Hyde Ovada Gallery" class="wp-image-204069" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Mr-Hyde.jpg 2000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Mr-Hyde-800x532.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Mr-Hyde-1000x666.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Mr-Hyde-400x266.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Mr-Hyde-1536x1022.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Andrew Walmsley</figcaption></figure>



The slightly menacing music (also played through gramophones dotted around the space), sinister science lab and direct addresses to the audience all add to the ominous, uncomfortable feels. We’re witnesses, and the themes still resonate, albeit they’re played out in the digital world now too which is arguably all the more hair-raising. There’s no modern references so Creation Theatre’s is a faithful and creative telling of Robert Louis Stephenson’s horror rather than an edgy new take, but it doesn’t require to much imagination to envisage how Jekyll &amp; Hyde could play out in even shadier ways across the forums and apps. What happens behind Dr Jekyll’s big red door and on cobbled Victorian backstreets could unfold in even more uncontrolled ways nowadays. BRB, just throwing my phone into the Isis on the way out.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">THE MUDDY VERDICT:</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1331" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Stairs-014-1.jpg" alt="Creation theatre Jekyll &amp; Hyde review" class="wp-image-204070" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Stairs-014-1.jpg 2000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Stairs-014-1-800x532.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Stairs-014-1-1000x666.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Stairs-014-1-400x266.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2026/05/Jekyll-and-Hyde-Stairs-014-1-1536x1022.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Andrew Walmsley</figcaption></figure>



Good for: Anyone who loves an inventive, immersive retelling of a classic, as well as gothic horror stans and true crime fans. Also, we can’t think of a better way to revise for a GCSE set text than to rock up to a showing; teens won’t be forgetting the storyline and talking points in a hurry. Speaking of which, there’s a <a href="https://creationtheatre.co.uk/show/jekyll-hyde-2/?utm_source=Muddy&amp;utm_medium=Ad&amp;utm_campaign=JH26" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pre-show GCSE Jekyll &amp; Hyde workshop </a>on Sun 10 May for students in Y9 – 11 with the stellar cast. It’s before the matinee performance, so swot up, then sit back and watch the show. Preferably from a chaise lounge right in the middle of things.&nbsp;



Not for: There’s no jump scares but the squeamish will want to tune out of the murder scene. It’s 12+ for a reason! If you have mobility needs, flag it to the front of house beforehand too so that they can reserve some comfy, spacious seating (some stools are quite high and space is tight at the back). 



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<a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/little-black-book/directory/creation-theatre-company-oxford/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Creation Theatre</a>’s <a href="https://creationtheatre.co.uk/show/jekyll-hyde-2/?utm_source=Muddy&amp;utm_medium=Ad&amp;utm_campaign=JH26" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jekyll &amp; Hyde </a>is on at the OVADA gallery in Oxford until 17 May. <a href="https://creationtheatre.co.uk/show/jekyll-hyde-2/?utm_source=Muddy&amp;utm_medium=Ad&amp;utm_campaign=JH26" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book tickets here </a>before they vanish.

Review: Creation Theatre’s Jekyll & Hyde, OVADA Gallery, Oxford

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