NEW IBERIA, La.--- Iberia Performing Arts League will present "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Noah Smith as its 2013-14 season premiere. A science fiction thriller, the show opens at IPAL's EssaneeTheater in New Iberia on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014 and plays for two weekends, closing on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014.
"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is set in multiple locations, including the living rooms of the respectable scientist Dr. Henry Jekyll (Mitch Prudhomme), his mentor Dr. Hastie Lanyon (Doc Voorhies), and his good friend Gabriel John Utterson (Perry Ledet). Four maids (Rayna Theriot, Molly Caro, Elizabeth Shensky and Anna Edwards) tell the story of Dr. Jekyll, a brilliant scientist frustrated by his dull life in 1888 Victorian London.
After visiting a prostitute named Cybel (Cindy Hebert), he decides that he's tired of his "respectable" life and creates a formula to unleash his inner bestial nature. This transforms him into the brutish but oddly compassionate Edward Hyde.
Hyde lives the high life while Jekyll's middle-age normalcy continues until Hyde's anger towards Utterson's nephew, Richard Enfield (Ian Bonin), grows. Enfield is cheating on his intelligent American fianc�e, Helen O'Neill (Jessica Babineaux), and Jekyll's fondness of her causes Hyde's rage to explode- turning up a body count. It's then up to Utterson to discover the truth behind the mysterious Mr. Hyde, but what will he discover as a result? It will change his universe forever.
This show is sponsored by Community First Bank and supported, in part, by a grant from the Louisiana State Arts Council, through the Louisiana Divisions of the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Curtain is at 7:30 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and 3 on Sunday afternoons. Tickets are $10 and may be obtained at Delaune's Pharmacy, Paul's Flowers, Accentrics on Main Street or by calling the theater at 364-6114 and leaving a name and phone number. Tickets can also be obtained by emailing [email protected]
For additional information, contact Director Blythe Bull at 337-967-5145 or Donald Voorhies at 337-364-1975.
