Theatre DuJour Brings the Gothic Terror of Jekyll and Hyde to DC Arts Center
Robert Louis Stevenson's enduring 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has frightened and fascinated readers for over a century, and Theatre DuJour's intimate new stage production makes a compelling case for why it still resonates so deeply today. Playing now through April 26 at the DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan, this adaptation by company co-founder B. Stanley strips the familiar tale down to its psychological core, and the result is a moody, absorbing evening of theatre.
Tortured by his bland and rigidly conservative Victorian existence, Dr. Henry Jekyll concocts a mixture that transforms his physical being and unleashes his darkest suppressed impulses — all while allowing him to return to his respectable self at will. The alter ego he creates, the sinister Mr. Edward Hyde, becomes increasingly irresistible to him, a figure of pure appetite unconstrained by conscience or social convention. As Hyde's hold over Jekyll tightens, his old friend and attorney Mr. Utterson begins to suspect something deeply wrong — especially after a mysterious stranger is named the sole beneficiary of Jekyll's estate. The question haunting the play is not simply who Hyde is, but whether Jekyll can still choose to be rid of him, or whether that choice has already been made for him.
Stanley's script stays remarkably faithful to Stevenson's source material, and the production leans into the novella's literary qualities in an interesting way — the story unfolds largely through narrative monologues delivered directly to the audience by the various characters, giving the evening something of the quality of an elegant staged reading, except fully realized with blocking, lighting, sound, and handsomely designed costumes. Stevenson's language, when spoken aloud by committed actors, proves richly theatrical and viscerally imagistic.
Jerry Herbilla carries the central dual role of Jekyll and Hyde, drawing a clear line between the two personalities that grows satisfyingly blurrier as the evening progresses. Chuck Young anchors the production as Utterson, the story's primary lens, and keeps the narrative grounded even as events grow increasingly strange and terrible. The supporting cast — Kim Curtis as Dr. Lanyon, Terence Samuel as Mr. Enfield, and Annetta Dexter Sawyer as Mrs. Poole — rounds out the ensemble with conviction. Alex Anthes Rojas' lighting design does meaningful work in establishing atmosphere, while the sound design by Rob Gould and Brian Zellmer — low drones, rumbles, and an unsettling ambient texture — adds considerable menace to the sparse staging.
Stanley, who also directs and designed the production, has noted that part of what drew him to the material was its relevance to the fractured national moment we find ourselves in — the idea that the same individual, the same society, can contain within itself radically incompatible moral impulses. That subtext gives the production a particular charge for Washington audiences, even as the story works purely on the level of gothic suspense.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde runs approximately 85 minutes with no intermission. Performances are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 7:30 pm through April 26, 2026, at the DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street NW.