By Gabrielle Terrett

The Vicksburg Post

A story of disaster, defiance and much demise; the tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will be portrayed through a stage play from Westside Theatre Foundation at the Strand Theatre, 717 Clay Street.

The play tells of the brilliant Dr. Jekyll, a scientist, who concocts a potion to perform horrendous actions without a conscious and the beautiful Lucy Harris, a hardworking woman who has worked herself into a deep hole and eventually finds herself in love with Dr. Jekyll.

It isn’t until she comes into contact with Hyde, Dr. Jekyll’s evil half, that she realizes she needs Jekyll more than ever.

However, the scientist has created the monster known as Mr. Hyde, who eventually takes over his mind, body and actions. The creation of Mr. Hyde brings on the drama for the stage play.

“This show was brought to my attention by our lead, Eliana Davis. She approached me in the summer while doing a show,” said producer Jack Burns.

“We typically do a show during the Halloween season. We’ve done Dracula, and Rocky Horror a bunch of times, so we wanted to do something cool during Halloween.”

The play is open to the public and admission is $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Tickets for the show can be purchased at the Coffee Shop before the show or at the door before entering the theater.

The play will be performed five times beginning at 7:30 tonight and Saturday, as well as Oct. 27, Oct. 28 and Oct. 31. 

David Worley, playing the lead character of Dr. Jekyll, will be one of the main attractions of the show. While turning into Mr. Hyde, Worley is sure to intrigue the audience.

“There are quite a few subplots,” said Worley. “Dr. Jekyll is basically the good in him and Mr. Hyde is the bad. The plots expand off of that and affect all surroundings of the play.”

Worley’s assisting lead, Davis, will be playing Lucy Harris, a hardworking woman who comes across hard times and ends up miserable with her lifestyle.

Davis suggested the play as a great idea for Halloween.

“I studied some of this music in college,” said Davis.

“I heard other people sing it in college and I’ve been interested in the play since. I just really fell in love with the music.”

The actors have been practicing for months to perfect the show and it will be extremely suspenseful said Burns. The entire cast hopes that everyone will come out to enjoy the play.

“I hope the play entertains the people. If they get past the glorious visuals and the wonderful actors I hope that it at least stuns them,” said Burns.

“The show displays a lot about how we portray ourselves and others. It’s a story about class, established order, and I hope that at the least it stuns the audience. It’s a great couple of hours of entertainment.”