The National Theatre is to tour Evan Placey's 'reimagining' of Jekyll & Hyde to schools nationwide, starting with 16 schools in Greater Manchester and The Lowry, 9–13 January 2024.
The production will visit schools in four of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester, mostly Rochdale, Salford and Wigan. The schools are Hollingworth Academy in Rochdale, Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, Bedford High School in Leigh, St John Fisher Catholic High School in Wigan, Golborne High School in Wigan, Pendleton College in Salford, St Anne’s Church of England Academy in Rochdale, Wardle Academy in Rochdale, Salford City Academy, Dean Trust Rose Bridge in Wigan, Moorside High School in Salford, Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School in Rochdale, The Lowry Academy in Worsley, The Albion Academy in Salford, Outwood Academy Hindley in Wigan and Chorlton High School, Manchester.
There will also be two performances at The Lowry exclusively for local schools and two that the public can attend.
Directed by Kirsty Housley, the 9-week tour will be watched by more than 10,000 students with the production visiting school halls nationwide from 8 January to 16 March.
In a reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Gothic novella, this production sees Victorian England merged with the modern day as it explores how the repression of female voices can be as prevalent today as it was in the 19th century. Confronting contemporary social issues such as identity, online personas, culpability and the right to protest, the production aims to bring education beyond the classroom and inspire students to engage with topical issues through the arts.
In partnership with local theatres, the production will also be seen by students in schools across Sunderland, Leicester, Stoke, Peterborough, Wakefield, Doncaster, Wolverhampton, Hornchurch and North Devon.