Syracuse New Times - The Central New York Alternative, Local Bands & Events Calendar - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

Syracuse New Times - The Central New York Alternative, Local Bands & Events Calendar - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

Nowhere does the device work better than in the casting of diminutive (4-foot-11) Indian-American actress Binaifer Dabu. When we first see her she’s a crying child with a shawl over her head. A few minutes later she’s transmogrified into a man (shades of Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously!). First it’s the servant Poole, a character that appears in Stevenson’s novella, although usually as a stolid Brit. Here, dressed in a dark morning coat and trousers, Poole also sports a white turban and speaks with a muted Indian accent. More men and more women and possibly a hermaphrodite will follow.