Jekyll & Hyde

A Slightly Isolated Dog are back at The Q this week with another piece of frenetic brilliance.  The team (Leo Gene Peters, Meg Rollandi, Debbie Fish, Blair Gody and Sam Clavis) take turns at playing Mr Hyde, essentially represented by an evil wig, whose crimes become increasingly flamboyant and ridiculous, coming to a hilarious come-uppance. The casual silliness of it all belies how much skill has gone into building the show. Their physical comedy sequences are beautifully timed involving incredible co-ordination between the team and their sound operator. The songs are spine-tinglingly good.  

Of the two of their shows, this one seemed to work better than last week’s Don Juan, but that was most likely a function of last week’s cold, Friday night audience not quite getting into the spirit. That earlier show relied on an extended sequence with an audience member playing a statue that Don Juan invites to dinner, which seemed to drag as she mumbled her lines—which is one of the risks of a show relying heavily on audience participation. In contrast, Jekyll & Hyde sparkled the whole way through, and even when audience members were awkward it was funny.

The humour is deliciously mad with elements of burlesque and slapstick, and there really is no escaping being roped in to some extent—although I did try to avoid it, this time they put me in a poorhouse and gave me tuberculosis (it’s okay, no hard feelings guys). But that’s all part of the fun. This night’s show bounced off the energy of a delighted audience. Definitely worth braving the frost to catch this group of talented Kiwis.

Cathy Bannister

Images: Andi Crown Photography.