Publisher's Synopsis
The first and most influential stage version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) was created by Richard Mansfield in 1887. The changes Mansfield made to the original story - including the addition of female characters, a more sympathetic Dr. Jekyll and a more significant role for Inspector Newcomen - would become standard for subsequent stage and screen adaptations. An authoritative, collated version of the Mansfield script charts the evolution of his play through its Boston, New York, and London productions. Also included are competing scripts by Bandmann and Carr. Biographical information is presented for Mansfield, Thomas Russell Sullivan (who wrote dramatizations of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1908 and 1912), and Stevenson. Special attention is given to American theater and popular entertainment during the late nineteenth century, and to the Jack the Ripper murders, which led to the closing of Mansfield's London production. Included in the appendices are reviews of the various productions and transcripts of Mansfield interviews.
