St. Ambrose Theater Professor to Perform Unique One-Man Take on Jekyll and Hyde
Gothic horror and a classic 19th-century story will be brought to life for one night only by Dan Hale, in “Strange Case,” at the main theater of Galvin Fine Arts Center (2101 Gaines St., Davenport), Saturday, March 28 at 7 p.m.
Inspired by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, and drawing on Hale’s experiences as a street performer and theatrical clown, Strange Case is an original take on a familiar story of the struggle between good and evil. Hale combines circus arts, eccentric dance, and gothic horror in this one-of-a-kind, invigorating one-man show, which he adapted. It’s not a formal part of the St. Ambrose University theater season (which presents the musical “A Year With Frog and Toad” later this spring), and it’s only one performance since Galvin is booked on March 27 and 29, Hale said recently.
“It’s an idea I’ve had for a long time. And recently the pieces fell into place,” he said by phone. “The kids were old enough and I got some encouragement from my wife and got all the pieces in place to make it happen. It’s an idea I’ve had for a long time, but now it’s finally coming to fruition. So I’m excited about that.”
Dan Hale plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the new one-man production of “Strange Case,” at Galvin Fine Arts Center, Davenport, March 28 at 7 p.m. (photo by Miranda Richards).
Hale (a 2004 St. Ambrose theater alum) has taught at St. Ambrose since 2009, as a theater professor and is the theater department chair. He received his MFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago. He has additional movement and clown training from Dell’Arte International in California and enjoys mask-making and puppetry.
While Hale has done one-man street performing (in Chicago from 2004 to 2007), this is his first one-man show, to be about an hour with no intermission.
“I have done other street performance. And the last thing I guess that’s closest to this is a duo. I did a clown show that we took to Montreal, maybe 10 years ago,” he said. “It was called ‘Le Petit Poisson’ and it was an international collaboration.”
In Hale’s adaptation of “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” the story conveniently features Jekyll and Hyde as the same man, “aspects of the same person,” so “I kind of attacked it from that point of view is, how can I play these two sides?” he asked. “How can he mess with himself? How can he fight with himself?”
“If you’ve read the novella, the final chapter is all written from a letter from Jekyll to his friends about all the events and how it all transpired and all the things that happened and what was going through his head,” Hale said. “And so I’ve taken a recording device and put his notes into narration. So we kind of follow along the story using his own letter that he writes to the future.”
Dan Hale plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the new one-man production of “Strange Case,” at Galvin Fine Arts Center, Davenport, March 28 at 7 p.m. (photo by Miranda Richards).
In Stevenson’s story, Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alter ego Mr. Edward Hyde is the central character of the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In the story, Dr. Jekyll is a good friend of Gabriel John Utterson. Living in Leicester Square, Jekyll is a kind and respected English doctor struggling with repressed evil urges, according to a plot synopsis. As a potential solution, he develops a serum that he believes will effectively remove his more twisted traits. Instead, Jekyll transforms into Edward Hyde, the physical and mental manifestation of his own misdeeds.
The 1990 Broadway musical “Jekyll & Hyde” (by Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse) features at least 15 actors. Given his own dance and circus background, Hale incorporates those colorful art forms into his one-man production.
“It’s a theatrical piece with say, artistic license,” he said. “So when somebody is working on their experiments in the lab, then maybe they’re also using juggling scarves or juggling balls or you know, when they’re doing research at his personal library, maybe those books are something that we can throw around or manipulate in different ways,” Hale said. “He has a cane that he twirls around. And so we were able to incorporate different acts throughout the show that are representative or expressionistic, that allow us to use dance and circus to tell the story.”
There’s a good deal of pre-recorded music throughout the show, so it’s fairly evenly split between dialogue and wordless music, Hale noted.
“So that the dance and so that the movement, the theatrical movement and the juggling and manipulation have something underneath it to support it,” he said of the music. “It’s been a satisfying experience. It has been a difficult experience. Obviously, it has its challenges and I’m not as young as I used to be, but I’m excited about it. I’m excited for people to finally see my version of this story.”
Dan Hale plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the new one-man production of “Strange Case,” at Galvin Fine Arts Center, Davenport, March 28 at 7 p.m. (photo by Miranda Richards).
Hale is thrilled to work again with longtime SAU lighting designer Aaron Hook on the dramatic look of the production, as well as his mother Peggy Hale, who handled costumes.
“Aaron Hook and I have worked together on many shows and we’ve won awards together,” he said. “And so yes, it’ll have his unique style of lighting and our unique way of working together.”
Variety in costumes (with a few surprises in there) will help differentiate the title characters, Hale said. The stage manager is Miranda Richards.
Tickets for “Strange Case” are $30 for the general public; $20 for senior citizens, SAU faculty, staff and alumni, and free for current SAU students, available HERE.
Dan Hale plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the new one-man production of “Strange Case,” at Galvin Fine Arts Center, Davenport, March 28 at 7 p.m. (photo by Miranda Richards).
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