Phil Daniels brings mayhem to Wolverhampton as he takes on the roles of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in a brand new staging of the Gothic thriller.

With an impressive number of TV, stage and film roles under his belt - most notably that of 1960s Mod Jimmy Cooper in the 1979 cult movie Quadrophenia - Phil Daniels takes on not one but two parts in his latest project, portraying both Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in a brand new staging of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic thriller, which stops off in Wolverhampton in May.

A staple in the ‘from page to stage’ repertoire, the Victorian novella has here been adapted by David Edgar, the well-established playwright behind numerous critically acclaimed stage shows, including the RSC’s recent festive sell-out, A Christmas Carol.  

“David gets at the heart of the story,” says Daniels. “He tries to give a reason for Jekyll and Hyde's breakdown, where Jekyll's father gives him no credit but gives the daughter credit instead. There's a secret in the past between the sister and the brother that's quite violent, so it's not just Hyde who's the violent one; there's something violent in Jekyll as well.”

Brought to the stage by the Touring Consortium Theatre Company, Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde sees Daniels’ characters adopt their creator’s Scottish heritage. “I'm playing Jekyll as a posh Edinburgh doctor and Hyde as a Glaswegian. I'm burying myself in all that, but it's enjoyable getting deep into characters. You have to put the work in -  although I don't get deep enough to go around murdering people, of course!”

Accents apart, what challenges as an actor has Daniels encountered in preparing for his latest roles? “It's about making them as real as possible. There are two aspects of his personality, not just a crazed animal that's come out of nowhere. It's about finding out why Dr Jekyll is also Edward Hyde. What I don't want to do is make Hyde just evil. I want the audience to make up their own mind about who's the worst out of the two of them, or who's the best; which facets of each character they like or appreciate and which facets they don't. That's the challenge - to make them both credible people. One might be a villain and one might commit a murder, but it's because of the other's personality that he does it.

“When I first spoke to Jenny King (the show's producer and creator of the Touring Consortium Theatre Company) about Jekyll and Hyde, I was interested in the way that sometimes when people have a drink they become different people. You know, they can be as good as gold one day, but as soon as they've had a drink they become snarling animals. I was interested in that, and approaching the characters from a point of view that, even though there’s a liquid which Jekyll takes that turns him into this monster, or which exposes the darker side of his personality, that darker side is in him already. He just releases it.” 

Set against the darkness of Victorian England, the story of Jekyll & Hyde continues to fascinate more than 130 years after it was first published in 1886. So why does Daniels think it remains so popular?

“If there's a story that captures your imagination and has a beginning, a middle and an end, where something might happen or might not happen, it's quite thrilling. The Jekyll & Hyde story is just one of those stories that's always caught people's imaginations. I don't know how many pages the book is - I think it's only about 60; it's very slim. It's a tiny book that’s led to an industry of people making films, musicals, plays, other books, writing about it and analysing it. It's very popular, and understandably so.”

So what makes this latest production so appealing to contemporary audiences? “Hopefully I can make Jekyll & Hyde resonate today. It's very much set in Victorian times, but it's interesting that there are more poorer people - although hopefully we look after our poor, ill and mentally disturbed people a lot better than they did in those days.”

Committed to promoting accessible and inclusive theatre to audiences across the UK, the Touring Consortium works closely with schools, groups, organisations and individuals to ensure its creative projects help cultivate audiences of the future - a subject which is close to Daniels’ heart: “It's really important. It's difficult to attract younger audiences because theatre is very expensive. The 'silver pound' can afford it, so older audiences go to the theatre more, which means theatre often caters to them. The Touring Consortium Theatre Company is doing great work in, for example, finding plays and books that are on exam syllabuses to attract more kids in. Live theatre is really important. Kids go to gigs, but it'd be nice to make theatre something they go to more too.”

So, 40-plus years after cutting his acting teeth in a film version of Bugsy Malone, does Daniels ever let nerves get the better of him?  “I do, yes. The fear never goes away. I still have that dream where I'm doing a play and I don't know what the words are. But I think nerves are good because they mean you care about what you're doing.”

Daniels’ distinctive cockney accent is recognisable on Blur’s Parklife (1994) and the Me, White Noise track on the band’s Think Tank album (2003). Via his connection with Damon Albarn and co, the actor is hoping to fill a few extra seats at the Grand: “All of Blur's road crew are from Wolverhampton, and because of my association with the band, hopefully some of those boys will come and see the show.”
Finally, reflecting on the traits of both Jekyll and Hyde, who is Daniels more like? “I think there's a little bit of me in both of them. There's a bit of snobbery in Hyde and a bit of swagger in Jekyll, but also a bit of swagger in Hyde too. It's the same with all of us, I suppose.”

Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde shows at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre from Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 May.