ACT ONE
1. PROLOGUE
JEKYLL’S VOICE
In each of us there are two natures.
If this primitive duality of man – good and evil – can be housed in separate
identities, life will be relieved of all that is unbearable.
It is the curse of mankind…that these polar twins should be constantly struggeling….
2. I NEED TO KNOW
JEKYLL
I need to know
the nature of the demons that possess
man’s soul!
I need to know
why man’s content to let them make him less
than whole.
Why does he revel in murder and madness?
What is it makes him be less than he should?
Why is he doomed not to reach his potential?
His soul is black
when he turns his back
upon good.
I need to find
a way to get inside the tortured mind of man.
I need to try
to separate the good and evil – if I can.
One thing is certain – the evil is stronger.
Good fights a hopeless and desperate fight.
I must find ways of adjusting the balance
to bring him back from the empty black
edge of night!
I need to go
where no man has ventured before
to search for the key to the door
that will end all this tragic and senseless decay!
But how to go?
I need to know!
I need to learn
the secrets of the mind that we cannot discern.
I need to learn
the things that make men pass the point of no return.
Why does a wise man take leave of his senses?
Where is that fine line where sanity melts?
When does intelligence give way to madness?
A moment comes
when a man becomes
something else …
I need to know
why man plays this strange double game!
His hand always close to the flame!
It’s a deal with the devil he cannot disclaim!
But what’s his aim?
I need to know!
Dear God, guide me!
Show me how to succeed!
With your wisdom inside me,
Henry Jekyll will follow wherever you lead!
I need to see
the truth other men cannot see
to be things that others can’t be!
Give me courage to go
where no angel will go!
And I will go!
I need to know!
3. FACADE
THE STREET PEOPLE
If you live around here, you need cash in the bank.
‘Cos the houses ’round here are all flashy and swank.
An’ the front bit is what’s called a facade!
All the people ’round here are as posh as can be.
You won’t see ’em hob-nobbin’ with rubbish like me.
It’s the snob bit, also called a facade!
Every day people in their own sweet way
Like to add a coat of paint and be what they ain’t!
That’s how their little game is played
Livin’ out their masquerade
Gettin’ rich an’ gettin’ laid!
Who’d want to trade?
But there’s one thing I know an’ I know it for sure
This disease that they’ve got has got no ready cure.
An’ I’m certain life is terribly hard
When yer life’s a facade!
Every night here on house or another is a fun house
‘Cos of someone givin’ a party as you see, Sir!
This one here tonight is rather special – am I right?
It’s the betrothal of Sir Danvers’ daughter, Lisa!
Sir Danvers Carew is a good man
They call him “La creme de la creme”.
Whatever that means, he’s a bloody sight better than them!
Nearly everyone you meet when walking down a London street
Pretends to be a pillar of society.
A model of propriety, sobriety and piety
Who’s never even heard of notoriety!
The ladies an’ gents here before you
Which none of ’em ever admits
May have saintly looks, but they’re sinners an’ crooks
Hypocrites!
If you live around here you need lots of panache.
If you live in town, dear, then you must cut a dash.
‘Tisn’t hard, dear, to create a facade!
You must seem to be rich and have money to burn.
Even though it’s a bitch, spending more than you earn.
That’s the game here and the name is facade!
One or two might look kinda well-to-do.
But I betcha precious few have paid for their boots!
I’m inclined to think half mankind thinks the other half is blind.
Wouldn’t be surprised to find they’re all in cahoots!
At the end of the day they don’t mean what they say
They don’t say what they mean, they don’t ever come clean.
An’ the answer is it’s all a facade!
Call a walk “Promenade”, call a street “Boulevard”
Grease yer hair with “Pomade” you’ll be held in regard.
An’ I betcha if you stay on your guard
They’ll all say you’re a “Card”.
People love the facade.
What’s behind the facade?
Look behind…the facade!
4. BITCH BITCH BITCH
LADY BEACONSFIELD
Lord and Lady Hare
Fighting over there.
Darling, do beware!
She’s a bitch!
LORD SAVAGE
Lady Aberdare’s
Having an affair
With the butler there!
Just her niche!
VICIOUS PARTY GUESTS
Fine party – divine party
A touch tarty – but stinkin’ rich!
LADY BEACONSFIELD
What a pretty smile!
Mrs. Grenville – Heath!
Pity they are not all her teeth…
LORD SAVAGE
Lord Devere as well
He’s as queer as hell!
And bi-sexuelle!
Likes to switch!
ALL
Dee-licious – and so vicious!
Our one wish is to
Bitch, bitch, bitch!
BUTLER
Lady Postlethwaite
LADY BEACONSFIELD
God, she’s put on weight!
LORD SAVAGE
Gives you more to hate!
LADY BEACONSFIELD
Mean old bitch!
BUTLER
Lady Leopold
LORD SAVAGE
Looking really old!
LADY BEACONSFIELD
Poor Sir Leopold
LORD SAVAGE
She’s a witch!
ALL
Chic people – unique people
And freak people we quickly ditch!
BUTLER
Lady Delaware
LADY BEACONSFIELD
Awful color hair!
That’s her lover there
With the twitch!
BUTLER
Lord and Lady Biggs
LORD SAVAGE
What a pair of pigs!
Wear each other’s wigs!
LORD SAVAGE & LADY BEACONSFIELD
Itch! Itch! Itch!
ALL
June wedding
The bride dreading
The leg-spreading
While London’s rich
Come here and Bitch!…Bitch!…Bitch!
Bitch!…Bitch!…Bitch!
5. THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY
SIR DANVERS
My dear Simon,
You’re so gracious
To wish Lisa and Henry both well!
STRIDE
Dear Sir Danvers
As you know, Sir
I wish Lisa the sun and the moon!
But I have to confess
That I wish Henry Jekyll in hell!
UTTERSON
Henry! At last.
What could possibly be more important than your own engagement party?
JEKYLL
John, I am close to a breakthrough discovery!
Something spectacular, something sublime!
Finally, a light in the darkness has come to me!
Now it is only a matter of time!
1ST YOUNG MAN
Henry Jekyll, you’re a devil!
You have robbed us of London’s most lovely girl.
2ND YOUNG MAN
I could turn to drink when I stop to think
Lisa’s marrying a doctor instead of an earl!
Poor girl!
STRIDE
Doctor Jekyll, may I be the first to wish you and your bride-to-be
Peace and prosperity?
JEKYLL
Mr. Stride, it’s most civil of you to say that, as you do,
With such patent sincerity!
6. POSSESSED
JEKYLL
Lisa, all my life I’ve been possessed
By one great all consuming quest
And that’s my driving reason to survive!
LISA
My love, you know
I live to see that dream come true
My world consists of it and you
Together we will keep the dream alive!
Henry, I adore you,
always have done, always will do
But I, too, have dreams!
Maybe not as grand as yours
Or hard to understand as yours
But nonetheless my dreams!
You and I together will be…
JEKYLL
Darling, try to see what I see!
LISA
Henry, please believe me
I see everything there is to see!
JEKYLL
Then what by God am I supposed to do?!
LISA
When this all began,
You knew there’d be a price to pay.
Too late now to turn away!
You have come too far …
I know you’ll find a way…
7. TAKE ME AS I AM
JEKYLL
Sometime I see past the horizon,
sure of my way, where I am going.
But where’s the prize I have my eyes on?
Where? There is just no knowing …
And when despair tears me in two,
Who can I turn to but you?
You know who I am …
Take me as I am!
LISA
Look in my eyes – who do you see there?
Someone you know or just a stranger?
If you are wise, you will see me there.
Love is the only danger!
Love meaning me, love meaning you,
we’ll make that one dream come true.
You know who I am …
Take me as I am!
BOTH
Though fate won’t always do what we desire,
still we can set the world on fire!
Give me you hand, give me your heart!
JEKYLL
Swear to me, we’ll never part!
LISA
We’ll never part!
JEKYLL
You know who I am …
LISA
You know who I am …
JEKYLL
… this is who I am!
LISA
… this is who I am!
BOTH
Take me as I am …
8. LISA CAREW
STRIDE
Lisa Carew, can this be you?
What kind of man is this you’ve taken?
Can you not see the kind of life
that this would be – you are mistaken!
Time to awaken before it’s too late,
before you forever determine you fate!
LISA
But Simon, you knew: I had to be free.
What I choose to do is decided by me!
Ever since my mother died
My father, bless his darling heart,
Has treated me as though I were a young child.
Maybe his idea was just to wait until I grew up
and then look at me and hope that I’d be her …
It’s easy to accept this from a father –
he’d rather things remained the way they were.
But when it comes to marriage,
I must pick whom I prefer!
I am not the weak young thing you’re seeking, Simon,
someone seventeen, obedient and sweet.
I am not the protegee to waste your time on –
I’m complete!
In Henry’s eyes I see what I am meant to be!
STRIDE
Lisa, listen to me!
LISA
Simon, enough!
There’s nothing more!
Don’t be a bore!
You have your answer!
That’s how things are!
Will always be!
You had your chance, Sir, with me!
STRIDE
Someday you’ll regret what you just said to me!
Lisa…
LISA
We’ll see, Sir!
9. BOARD OF GOVERNORS
RECORDING SECRETARY
The Board of Governors of St. Jude’s Hospital is now in session.
Sir Danvers Carew, KBE, Chairman.
His Grace, The Bishop of Basingstoke.
General Lord Glossop.
The Right Honorable Sir Archibald Proops, Q.C.
Lady Beaconsfield.
Lord Savage.
The Order of business will be conducted by the Secretary to the Board of Governors,
Mr. Simon Stride.
STRIDE
Proposition No. 929 – Presented by Dr. Henry Jekyll.
GENERAL GLOSSOP
Jekyll, you’re all talk an’ no result!…
BISHOP OF BASINGSTOKE
Forever asking us to endorse empty promises!
SIR ARCHIBALD PROOPS
What’s all the mystery? Much ado about nothing, if you ask me…
LADY BEACONSFIELD
You’re the laughing stock of your profession and polite society!
The mad scientist!
STRIDE
Order! Order!
JEKYLL
Distinguished Governors,
I have glimpsed the future.
Seen miracles that stun the mind
And marvels only science can find
To shape tomorrow for mankind.
And I can show them to you
If you wish me to.
Friends, you’re aware there are two sides to each of us
Good and evil, compassion and hate.
If we could extract all the evil from each of us
Think of the world that we could create!
A world without anger or violence or strife
Where man wouldn’t kill anymore!
A world of compassion, where passion for life
Would banish the madness of war!
I’m close to finding the key to duality
Chemical Formulae which could and would
Alter the patterns of man’s personality
Guiding him either to evil or good!
Weigh the potential, the great possibilities
Colleagues – dear friends, understand!
We have a chance to make history here in our hand!
Each of us is the embodiment of two distinct and opposing forces – Good and Evil – each fighting for supremacy inside us. If we could separate these two forces, we could control and ultimately eliminate all evil from mankind. My experiments with animals have led me to believe that the day is not far off when this separation will be possible. To achieve it, I must be allowed to try my formula on a living human being!
BISHOP OF BASINGSTOKE
And what if you’re right, Jekyll? And you do manage to separate
Good from Evil – What happens to the evil?
JEKYLL
There are doomed, broken souls in a thousand asylums
I defy you to say you don’t care if you can!
In the name of compassion and medical science,
I can save many lives if you give me one man!
BISHOP OF BASINGSTOKE
I tell you now – the Church will never sanction it!
VARIOUS
Sacrilege! Lunacy! Blasphemy! Heresy!
SIR ARCHIBALD PROOPS
You seem to be treading on dangerous ground.
In legal terms, I’d say, extremely unsound!
BISHOP OF BASINGSTOKE
The whole thing’s un-christian, barbaric and odd!
You’re playing with fire when you start to play God!
STRIDE
The Bishop speaks for all of us, when he says you’re playing God!
There’s such a thing as ethics over which you ride rough-shod!
You’re a Doctor, not a saviour,
Doctor Jekyll, for a start!
But I judge from your behaviour
You can’t tell the two apart!
JEKYLL
Dear Mr. Stride, I am simply a scientist.
I have a code to which I remain true!
I don’t presume to the stature of moralist.
I leave pretension like that, Sir, to you!
SIR DANVERS
Henry, I’ve always encouraged your enterprise
And I’ve been hopefull that you would succeed!
But in the face of these powerful arguments,
I see no choice but for you to concede!
JEKYLL
I know my fate is yours to choose
But if they win, the world would lose
I am on the brink of great success!
I beg you, Governors, you must say “Yes!”
LADY BEACONSFIELD
Doctor Jekyll, enough of this ranting, Sir!
This is a hospital, here to save lives!
GOVERNORS
Do you think we would let you play havoc
With all the high principles for which it strives?
Do you expect us to compromise all that we stand for
Indulging your dangerous games?
How many rules should we break for your dubious games?
JEKYLL
Can’t you see?
I am not playing games!
Just give me the opportunity!
GENERAL GLOSSOP
This whole thing’s too bizarre!
SIR DANVERS
Open up your eyes and see!
BISHOP OF BASINGSTOKE
This man has gone too far!
JEKYLL
Unless you listen to me…
STRIDE
Doctor, please watch your tone!
Dammit, man, can’t you see?
You’re on your own!
|
JEKYLL |
SIR DANVERS |
||
|
Fools! You fools! |
Henry! |
||
|
PROOPS |
|||
|
Jekyll! |
|||
|
God damn … |
|||
|
BISHOP OF BASINGSTOKE |
|||
|
Blasphemy! |
|||
|
… your rules! |
|||
|
GENERAL GLOSSOP |
|||
|
Mutiny! |
|||
|
LORD SAVAGE |
|||
|
Look at yourselves! |
Damn me! |
||
|
Civilized men! |
|||
|
LADY BEACONSFIELD |
|||
|
Really! |
|||
|
Why can’t you see?! |
|||
|
SIR DANVERS |
|||
|
Henry! |
STRIDE
Order! Order!
JEKYLL
If I ever needed further justification for my experiments, gentlemen,
You have just provided it!
Just look at what has happened here!
Mix anger with a touch of fear
The danger’s all too crystal-clear
Just look at you!
Our darker side keeps breaking through
Observe it now – in me and you!
The evil that all men can do must be controlled!
I beg of you
I’ll show you all it can be done!
Here is a chance to take charge of our fate
Deep down you must know that tomorrow’s too late!
One rule of life we cannot rearrange
The only thing constant is change
The only thing constant…is change
STRIDE
Distinguished colleagues, your verdict, please.
All those is favour say “Aye”
All those opposed, “Nay”
GOVERNORS
Nay! Nay! Nay! Nay!
Positively – Absolutely – Nay!
STRIDE
Sir Danvers?
SIR DANVERS
Abstain.
STRIDE
By five votes to none – with one abstention
Proposition 929 is rejected
Thank you for your time, Dr. Jekyll
SIR DANVERS
I am truly sorry, Henry.
JEKYLL
All these precious years I’ve dedicated to this dream
Now with a word they claim the power to deny me!
Who are they to judge what I am doing?
They know nothing of the endless possibilities I see!
It’s ludicrous I’m bound by their decision.
Seems vision is a word they’ve never heard!
If it mattered less, I’d treat it with derision
It’s absurd!
And yet the fact remains
Those bastards hold the reins!
STRIDE
I’m so sorry, Doctor Jekyll, what a really rotten shame!
I so hope that what has happened won’t destroy your precious name!
Henry Jekyll, I despise you!
You have stolen the girl who should be my wife!
But there’ll come a day, not so far away
When you’ll not only pay
You will pay all your life!