INTERLUDE
3
After
a while the lights gradually come on. It is morning in the
street. The newsboys take up their stands again.
The
macabre relish has disappeared from their voices leaving only shock and
grief.
[No.10.
Read all about it: reprise] [Score]
BOY 1:
Read all about it!
BOY 2:
Murder most foul!
BOY 1:
Jack the Ripper strikes
again!
BOY 2:
Ripper on the prowl!
BOY 1:
Jack the Ripper’s
struck again
shielded
by the
fog and rain,
killed
in
darkness with a knife
Fanny
Adams,
Arfur’s wife,
left
her body
in the mud,
lying
in a pool
of blood.
BOY 1:
Read all about it!
BOY 2:
Murder most foul!
BOY 1:
Jack the Ripper strikes
again!
BOY 2:
Ripper on the prowl!
BOY 2:
P’lice are
baffled, not a clue.
Government
is
in a stew.
Gladstone
cries, “It must be solved!”
Sherlock
Holmes
is now involved.
He
searches
every nook and cranny,
but
even he
could not save Fanny.
BOY 1
[brokenly]:
Read all about it
... [sobs]
BOY 2:
Murder most foul
… [sobs]
The
newsboys break down into helpless sobbing.
Enter
Holmes and Watson. Watson hurries over to one of the boys and
buys a paper. He peruses the front page.
WATSON:
Holmes! Another murder. And not more than a couple
of
hundred yards from Miss Jekyll’s door. We must go
over
straight away. I do hope she is all right.
HOLMES:
You are right Watson. We must go over there. I feel
certain
that the clue we are seeking lies in Jekyll’s
laboratory. I
cannot put my finger on it yet, but there is something not quite as it
should be.
WATSON:
That fellow Hyde, for a start. I tell you, Holmes there is
something so evil about him that … well, …
dammit,
Holmes, I've strapped on my old service revolver.
HOLMES:
Pray Heaven you will not need it, Watson, but you know my
methods: observation and analysis; at all costs emotion must be
excluded if we are to avoid jumping to the wrong conclusions.
You
dislike Hyde because he is an ugly little brute with an even uglier
temper, but that does not necessarily make him a murderer.
The
so-called Ripper does not kill in a blind rage as Hyde might well
do. He dissects his victims with all the finesse of a skilled
surgeon.
WATSON:
You can’t
suspect Jekyll.
HOLMES:
Until I have the vital clue I suspect no-one, or rather, I suspect
everyone. Who could have believed that such evil could stalk
the
streets of England’s capital in the ninth decade of the
nineteenth century? We are never free from it, Watson, no
matter
how advanced our civilisation.
[No.11.
All the
hounds of Hell] [Score]
All
the hounds
of Hell are at our heels.
We
know the
fear the simple native feels
when
the
witch-doctor cries
and
he hears
those foul lies:
his
blood
congeals.
All
the hounds
of Hell are at our heels.
Our
civilised
veneer so swiftly peels.
We
shudder and
we blink,
we
cannot bear
to think
what
it reveals.
All
the hounds
of Hell are at our heels
when
Englishmen
betray their great ideals.
When
murder
stalks the town
its
evil may
bring down
the
commonweal.
WATSON:
You don’t think it could be a foreigner, do you
Holmes? By
George, if we could only clear out every Frenchman, every German
…
HOLMES:
Every Irishman?
Every Scotsman?
WATSON:
Er … no, um
…
HOLMES:
Xenophobia, my dear Watson. Perhaps the greatest evil of
all. Finding a scapegoat who is different. I am
afraid the
likelihood is that our murderer is an Englishman, an educated
Englishman, one who passes as an English gentleman.
WATSON:
Come on, Holmes.
We must look to Miss Jekyll. Pray God she is safe!
Holmes
and Watson hurry offstage.
SCENE
3
The
curtains open to reveal Dr Jekyll’s laboratory, furnished as
before. On the small dining table are a silver chafing dish,
a
coffee pot, a plate, a cup and saucer, and a knife and fork.
WATSON
[off]:
Thank heavens
you’re all right, Miss Jekyll. I was quite worried
about
you.
Enter
Holmes, Watson and Gertrude.
GERTRUDE:
There’s no need to worry, Dr Watson. Henry will
take care
of me. If you’d like to wait in here I'll see if he
is
getting up. Poor Henry had such a late night last night.
Exit
Gertrude.
HOLMES:
I have been thinking, Watson. The careful
dissection of the
corpses and the removal of certain internal organs must have a
purpose. You may recall that during the last century, the
so-called age of Enlightenment, a gentleman of your own profession
undertook certain experiments and succeeded in creating an artificial
human being by abstracting various organs from the corpses of men
executed for heinous crimes.
WATSON:
You mean, Dr
Frankenstein? The man who made a monster?
HOLMES:
Exactly so.
WATSON:
But Holmes, the Ripper
has taken the same parts again and again: livers and kidneys.
HOLMES:
I have taken that into account, Watson. These organs are
highly
perishable. If one of your colleagues has set out to emulate
Frankenstein’s experiments, it is not unlikely that it is
precisely these organs that would give him the most trouble.
That, at any rate is my theory. The alternative is too
horrible
to contemplate.
While
Holmes has been speaking, Watson has wandered over to the
table.
He lifts the cover of the chafing dish.
WATSON:
Kidneys! Capital! Now that I know Miss Jekyll is
safe I
suddenly feel quite peckish. I’m sure Jekyll
wouldn’t
mind.
Watson
takes up the plate and helps himself to the kidneys. Holmes
turns
and sees him.
HOLMES
[aghast]:
Watson!
Don’t eat the kidneys!
WATSON:
What’s the
matter, Holmes?
HOLMES:
Another clue. Why didn’t I see it? We
must face up to
the unspeakable truth. Watson, examine those kidneys as a man
of
science. Tell me, from what species did they come.
WATSON:
I am a doctor, not a
zoologist, but if you insist ... [he
examines the kidneys] ...
They look, I would almost say ...
human.
HOLMES:
Watson, I fear you came
close to
consuming part of the
mortal remains
of poor Fanny Adams.
WATSON:
Holmes, I feel sick!
HOLMES:
Your sensibility does you credit, Watson, but it is quite
illogical. Had you partaken of the kidneys you might
justifiably
feel ill. As you have not I think you had better pull
yourself
together and help me make sense of the evidence. Here we have
a
portion of the murdered girl, set out on a dish ready to be eaten
– and in Jekyll’s house.
WATSON:
Hyde! It must be
Hyde!
HOLMES:
Quiet Watson.
Someone is coming.
Enter
Jekyll.
JEKYLL:
Gentlemen?
WATSON:
Ah, Jekyll, old
fellow. I should like you to meet my friend Holmes.
Holmes,
Jekyll.
Holmes
and Jekyll shake hands.
JEKYLL:
Not Sherlock Holmes,
the celebrated private investigator?
WATSON:
The same.
JEKYLL:
Mr Holmes, I need your
help. You have met Hyde.
HOLMES:
Yes.
JEKYLL:
He is evil, the
embodiment of evil.
HOLMES:
Then why do you allow
him the run of your house?
JEKYLL:
I will explain. You have heard from my sister that I am
engaged
on a series of experiments. I have long been intrigued by the
combination of good and evil in human beings. The best of men
have secret sins that they keep hidden away for shame, and the very
worst have sudden, unexpected impulses to help other people even at
great cost to themselves. It is as if two souls are at war
within
us. Through my experiments I have succeeded in separating
those
two souls. I have become two people. My other self
is
Edward Hyde.
WATSON:
What?!!
JEKYLL:
I became Hyde by drinking a potion which I have devised, and as he went
about his wicked pleasures, taking me with him as a horrified and
impotent spectator, a subordinate soul, I imagined I was studying the
essence of evil so that I could eliminate it from human nature, so that
I could eradicate it totally and forever.
Fool that I was! I saw Hyde commit murder
– murder
after murder – and I became ever more determined to
understand his nature. Now it is too late. Hyde has
overmastered me. At first he came only when I drank the
potion,
when I
decided he should
appear. Then I found myself taking it
more frequently, longing to take it at all times of the day and
night. My scientific curiosity, I thought
– but it
was Edward Hyde, my subordinate soul, compelling me to liberate
him. Now I am convinced that he
allows me to exist only when it
suits him,
when he needs to
conceal himself from the consequences of
his vile crimes. I have needed larger and larger doses of the
potion to become Jekyll, smaller and
smaller doses suffice to call up
Hyde. This morning I became Hyde against my will and without
taking any of the potion.
I am
Hyde. Hyde is my
natural state. I can only be Jekyll
if I am drugged by the potion – and the ingredients are
harder
and harder to find – impossible to find in the pure
state.
Perhaps it was impurities reacting … with … the
formula
… that … caused … it.
I … am … changing. He
is coming!
…
Watson, I beg you … you
have a gun
… shoot me! You must
… kill
… Hyde … Aaaargh!
[No.12.
Transformation: reprise = No.7] [Score]
Transformation:
Jekyll falls about in agony and collapses behind the bench.
And
appears and throws himself around the stage in a spectacular display of
Arab springs and breakfalls. At length he disappears behind
the
table. Hyde crawls out from behind the table and gets to his
feet.
HYDE:
I’m
back!
… and I’ll not go through that performance
again.
Here I am and here I stay. That fool Jekyll thought to betray
me,
did he? Well he can stay right where he is till the Devil
takes
us both, ha-ha-ha! Well, Gentlemen, we meet again.
Now you
know I spoke nothing but the truth when I said Jekyll looks on me as
his other self. Unusual that, I rarely speak the truth
–
only when it suits me.
WATSON:
You villain.
HYDE:
Breakfast not to your liking, Watson? Little Fanny Adams, so
sweet and tender. Why have you taken her kidneys out of the
dish? They’re cold! I will not eat cold
kidneys!
WATSON
[pulling
out his gun]: I
ought to shoot you like a mad dog.
HYDE:
I thought you loved dogs, Watson. The English all love
dogs. They love animals more than people – now
there’s a thought. Ever heard of the Animal
Liberation
Front?
WATSON:
No.
HYDE:
No, you won’t have, but your grandchildren will.
It’s
brilliant. I’ll use love of animals to spread
hatred of
humanity. There’s always something new for me to do.
WATSON:
You fiend.
HYDE:
I’m evil incarnate – but you can’t shoot
me, not
without killing your friend Jekyll – and you’re too
soft-hearted for that. You won’t kill me even when
you know
the depths of my depravity.
[No.13.
Eat your
heart out, Hannibal Lector] [Score]
Eat
your heart
out, Hannibal Lector.
Mr
Hyde’s
the terrible spectre
that
stalks the
corridors of fear,
and
we’ve
all got Mr Hyde in here!
[He
strikes his
breast]
Mr
Hyde’s
the Inquisition,
Mr
Hyde’s
the Ku-Klux-Klan.
Mr
Hyde is
liberation
for
animals,
and death to man.
Mr
Hyde’s
the Ku-Klux-Klan,
Mr
Hyde’s
the IRA,
Mr
Hyde is
Genghis Khan,
and
Mr Hyde is
here to stay.
Mr
Hyde’s
the IRA,
Mr
Hyde’s
the KGB,
Mr
Hyde’s
the Nazi party,
they
take their
policies from me.
Mr
Hyde’s
the KGB.
It’s
Mr
Hyde who takes the tyres
and
hangs them
round men’ necks with glee,
then
calls to
Winnie, “Light the fires!”
Mr
Hyde, he
never tires
of
seeking
wickedness to do.
he
uses heroes,
saints, and liars –
you
can’t
kill Hyde, ’cos Hyde is YOU!
Eat
your heart
out, Hannibal Lector.
Mr
Hyde’s
the terrible spectre
that
stalks the
corridors of fear,
and
we’ve
all got Mr Hyde in here!
He
seeks out
wickedness to do.
He
promises to
those who slay
the
innocent
that forty-two
sweet
maids
will kiss them every day.
He
promises to
those who slay
a
place in
paradise above,
with
lots of
filthy, sexy play –
[Holmes
and Watson are disgusted]
thus
he betrays
the God of love.
A
place in
paradise above
he
guarantees
to murderous boys.
Your
God of
Mercy, God of Love,
He
weeps at my
infernal joys.
He
guarantees
this to the boys
if
they will
kill. He never tires
of
promising,
and he employs
the
mouths of
bigots, ranting liars.
Mr
Hyde, he
never tires
of
seeking
wickedness to do.
he
uses heroes,
saints, and liars -
you
can’t
kill Hyde, ’cos Hyde is YOU!
Eat
your heart
out, Hannibal Lector.
Mr
Hyde’s
the terrible spectre
that
stalks the
corridors of fear,
and
we’ve
all got Mr Hyde in here!
Mr Hyde is Lucy Letby,
killing babies one by one.
Mr Hyde is Jimmy Savile,
assaulting little girls for fun.
Killing babies one by one,
or all at once in bloody war,
that's what gives me lots of pleasure.
That's what aeroplanes are for.
Kill the lot in bloody war,
be like Hitler or Assad,
Mr Hyde is your worst nightmare,
Mr Hyde is mad bad Vlad.
He's like Hitler and Assad.
He inspires the Caliphate.
He calls terrorists to arms
and fills them up with mindless hate.
He inspires all those who hate,
suggests new wickedness to do.
His evil you will never sate.
You can't kill Hyde, 'cos Hyde is YOU!
He inspires the Caliphate
and scatters fatwas everywhere.
He calls on men to act as killers
if girls should chance to show their hair.
He scatters fatwas everywhere,
and calls on men to rise and kill
the guilty and the innocent,
the babe in arms, the old and ill.
He calls on men to rise and kill.
Destruction in his wake he brings,
tells bigots they alone are right
to silence anyone who sings
a different song. Destruction now
is what he offers every sect.
to silence anyone they claim
is not politically correct.
Every sect that he inspires
will seek out wickedness to do,
led by hypocrites and liars.
You can't kill Hyde, 'cos Hyde is YOU!
Eat
your heart
out, Hannibal Lector.
Mr
Hyde’s
the terrible spectre
that
stalks the
corridors of fear,
and
we’ve
all got Mr Hyde in here!
Mr Hyde is Boris Johnson,
Mr Hyde is Donald Trump,
and all who think they are entitled
to tell the people how to jump.
Mr Hyde is Donald Trump,
and Mussolini and Pol Pot.
He's Stalin, Hitler and Khomeini,
Putin too, as like as not.
Mussolini and Pol Pot,
all these are Hyde's beloved heirs.
Some are murderers, some liars.
all skilled in twisting our affairs.
All these are Hyde's beloved heirs.
They twist the world to suit themselves.
They're lying, scheming hypocrites,
wicked orcs who pose as elves.
They twist the world to suit themselves,
and seek out wickedness to do.
All of you are hypocrites.
You can't kill Hyde, 'cos Hyde is YOU!
Ha!
I
feel quite peckish after that. Ready for a good
breakfast.
Why don’t you join me, Watson? You too,
Holmes. What
do you say to a slice or two of the delectable Gertrude?
WATSON:
You unspeakable hound!
Watson
shoots Hyde.
[No.14.
Transformation: Hyde – And - Jekyll] [Score]
Hyde
falls dying. He collapses behind the table. And
rises to
take his place. And crashes around in spectacular breakfalls
and
springs, combining death throes with the pains of
transformation.
He crashes behind the laboratory bench. Jekyll crawls out.
WATSON:
What have I done?!
JEKYLL:
You … have
… killed … Hyde.
Thank you … old friend.
WATSON:
Lie still,
Jekyll. I may be
able to save you.
JEKYLL:
No! Let me die!
… If you … save me … you will
… save
… him.
HOLMES:
Jekyll is right,
Watson. I know it is hard for you, but the only way to save
him
is to let him die.
JEKYLL:
At least … I
… die … as Jekyll. I am free of
… Hyde.
Enter
Gertrude
GERTRUDE:
I thought I heard a
shot. Is … Henry!! [She
kneels beside Jekyll].
What has happened? Who has
done this?
HOLMES:
The man responsible is
Edward Hyde.
JEKYLL:
Yes … it
… was … Hyde … [He dies]
Tableau:
Gertrude cradles Jekyll’s head, looking up at Watson, who is
still holding the gun. Holmes looks on. The curtain
falls.
INTERLUDE
4
Street
scene in front of the curtains. Enter Londoners walking
solemnly
[No.15.
Dr Jekyll’s dead and gone] [Score]
LONDONERS:
Dr Jekyll’s
dead and gone.
How was it that he died?
Shot by Dr Watson’s gun,
but killed by Mr Hyde.
ARFUR:
Hyde it was killed
Fanny I am sure,
and now he’s killed the friend of all the poor.
[He
coughs]
Friends … [cough]
… when I can speak I’ll
sing the praise … [cough]
… the praise of Dr Jekyll
Arfur
begins coughing again. His friends lead him away.
AGITATOR:
There’s more
in this than meets the eye.
You mark my words. It’s true.
How was it Jekyll came to die?
They won’t tell me nor you.
LONDONERS:
What’s that
he said?
We know that Jekyll’s dead.
AGITATOR:
They won’t
tell us
who fired the gun
that shot our only friend.
I’ll bet it was a gentleman
that brought about his end.
LONDONERS:
Dr Jekyll’s
dead and gone.
We know just how he died.
Shot by Dr Watson’s gun,
but killed by Mr Hyde.
AGITATOR:
Gather round me,
comrades. I will tell you
a tale of wickedness that certainly will fell you.
It was a gentleman
that fired
the fatal shot –
and, I should think,
the Prince
of
Wales as like as not.
LONDONERS:
Oh!
AGITATOR:
Comrades! It
stands to reason!
MAN:
This sounds to me like
treason!
AGITATOR:
Listen this is what
I think:
Jack the Ripper is the Prince’s son.
Jekyll knew and threatened him with clink,
so Jekyll’s murder was most royally done.
LONDONERS:
Oh!
AGITATOR:
While you are
starving in the street
the nobs enjoy their wine and meat
They are living off what you all pay in tax.
If you haven’t got the money
they will think it jolly funny
to strip the very shirt from off your backs.
There’s a German Jew called Marx
who will stop their little larks.
MAN:
Hark, hark! The lark!
WOMAN:
What lark?
YOUTH:
What larks! What
larks!
AGITATOR:
It’s all
written in his book Das
Kapital
Comrades, come the Revolution
they’ll be up for execution –
they’ll be swinging from the lamp-posts
thanks to Karl.
MOCKING CHORUS:
Thanks to Karl.
AGITATOR:
You may laugh, but
when your girls
are seduced by dukes and earls,
who have bought them all with promises of gems,
then for vengeance you will thirst
on those toffee-nose, accursed ...
MAN:
I fink we ought to frow
’im in ve Thames!
LONDONERS:
Get
’im! Grab ’im!
Hold ’im! Nab
’im!
AGITATOR:
The people’s
thirst for vengeance
is unquenchable
WOMAN:
And what we’ll do
to you
is quite
unmentionable!
YOUTH:
She’s after his
unmentionables!
Cheers
and laughter.
AGITATOR:
The pressure for
revolt is irrepressible!
The joy of Anarchy is inexpressible!
YOUTH:
Let’s get
’is inexpressibles!
AGITATOR:
Property is theft,
and poverty is left,
bereft!
LONDONERS:
Get him! Grab
him!
Hold him! Nab him!
Seize him! Grip him!
Pinch him! Nip him!
Punch him! Trip him!
Scrag him! Strip him!
The
Londoners surround the Agitator.
AGITATOR:
Down with the
Monarchy!
Anarchy for ever!
LONDONERS:
Down with the
Anarchist!
Throw him in the river!
They
hustle him offstage. There is a loud splash and a
cheer.
Then the Londoners return quietly.
LONDONERS:
Dr Jekyll’s
dead and gone,
and this is how he died:
shot by Dr Watson’s gun,
but killed by Mr Hyde.
Jekyll loved the London poor.
He was our truest friend.
He never turned us from his door,
but now he’s met his end.
Dr Jekyll’s dead and gone,
and this is how he died:
shot by Dr Watson’s gun,
but killed by Mr Hyde.
They go off stage
quietly.
EPILOGUE
The
curtains open to reveal Sherlock Holmes’ sitting
room.
Holmes and Watson enter.
HOLMES:
Well, Watson, it is
now four weeks since poor Jekyll died ...
WATSON
[sombrely]:
… since I shot
him, you mean.
HOLMES:
Really, Watson, we’ve been through all this before.
It was
Hyde
you shot, Hyde
the murderer. You
have
nothing to reproach
yourself for.
WATSON:
Holmes, old fellow, you know I had intended to ask Miss Jekyll if she
would … in short if she would be my wife. As the
killer of
her brother I cannot possibly propose to her.
HOLMES:
I see.
It’s a question of honour.
WATSON:
It’s a question of honour, and of trust. How could
I ever
look Gertrude in the face knowing I had that on my conscience?
The
doorbell rings
HOLMES:
Miss Jekyll is an
extraordinary woman, Watson. Why don’t you tell her
the
truth?
WATSON:
And destroy Jekyll’s reputation in the eyes of his greatest
admirer? No, Holmes, I shall live and die a bachelor.
Enter
the Housekeeper followed by Gertrude.
HOUSEKEEPER:
Miss Jekyll to
see you, Gentlemen. Mr Holmes, I’m just popping out
to the
corner shop.
HOLMES:
Thank you, Mrs
Halibut. My dear Miss Jekyll, do come in and sit down.
GERTRUDE:
Thank you, Mr Holmes. I really just came to say
goodbye.
I’m going down to the country. I have some ideas I
want to
try out on my garden. Dr Watson, will you shake hands?
WATSON:
My dear Miss Jekyll, I
…
GERTRUDE:
Don’t think I don’t know what you have done for
Henry, Dr
Watson. I know you have tried to spare me, but a woman
can’t live so close to a man without knowing when something
is
wrong. I know that the Whitechapel murders had something to
do
with Edward Hyde – and I know that Mr Hyde meant more than we
thought when he called himself Henry’s other self.
HOLMES:
How much do you know,
Miss Jekyll?
GERTRUDE:
I know that Henry
was deeply interested in the combination of good and evil in the human
soul and …
well,
since I
am sure you know everything: on that last morning I went to wake Henry,
and I found Mr Hyde in his bed, wearing his nightshirt. When
I
went back later, Henry himself was there, wearing that same nightshirt,
yet no-one could possibly have entered or left the room.
Later I
saw Henry go into the laboratory to talk to you, then I heard Edward
Hyde’s voice raised in anger. I ran in when I heard
the
shot, and found Henry dying. Of Mr Hyde there was no sign
though
he could not have left.
HOLMES:
Miss Jekyll, your
marshalling of the evidence is exemplary. You would make a
great
detective.
GERTRUDE:
No, I think not. My eyesight, you know. Dr Watson,
although
you never spoke of your hopes, I know what you intended. We
have
both given up much for Henry’s sake. I will never
forget
you.
WATSON:
Nor I you.
[No.16.
Cupid’s blundered] [Score]
GERTRUDE:
Sadly, sadly, we
must part,
by
death
forever sundered,
no
matter what
is in our heart,
for
Cupid’s blundered.
WATSON:
How can we
married be
when
Jekyll’s life is ended?
I
tried
to
kill Hyde
but
both in one
were blended.
Sadly,
sadly,
we must part,
by
death
forever sundered,
no
matter what
is in our heart,
for
Cupid’s blundered.
GERTRUDE:
What you’ve
done
with
your gun
I
willingly
will pardon.
There’s
no blame.
All
the same
I
leave you for
my garden.
Sadly,
sadly,
we must part,
by
death
forever sundered,
no
matter what
is in our heart,
for
Cupid’s blundered.
BOTH:
Sadly,
sadly, we must part,
by
death
forever sundered,
no
matter what
is in our heart,
for
Cupid’s blundered.
While
Gertrude and Watson gaze into each other’s eyes, Holmes moves
to
the front of the stage.
HOLMES:
What a waste! Garden design! A woman with Miss
Jekyll’s abilities could really have made her mark on the
world. Now I don’t suppose we’ll ever
hear of her
again.
Enter
the Prince of Wales, followed by the grovelling figure of Inspector
Lestrade.
PRINCE:
The door was open,
Holmes, and nobody answered the bell. I hope you
don’t mind.
HOLMES:
Not at all, Your Royal
Highness.
PRINCE:
You have an unexpected
visitor.
Enter
two
flunkeys who flank the door. Enter two ladies in waiting who
move
to one side. Enter a short, fat elderly woman dressed in
black. It is Queen Victoria. Holmes and Watson bow
deeply. Gertrude curtseys. Inspector Lestrade
collapses
into a corner. The Queen takes her seat. The Ladies
and the
Flunkeys arrange themselves behind her. The Housekeeper
rushes in.
HOUSEKEEPER:
Oh Mr Holmes, I do declare, there’s a carriage outside, a
great
big thing, and people are saying it belongs to ... oh my sainted
aunt! Stripe me pink! It’s Her!
QUEEN AND PRINCE
[in
unison]:
Don’t take
off so, my dear good woman.
The
Housekeeper collapses beside the Inspector.
QUEEN:
Mr
Holmes, Dr Watson. My son has told me how you solved the
Whitechapel murders. I should like to reward you.
HOLMES:
We did no more than our duty, Your Majesty. We seek no
reward,
except, perhaps … yes … Dr Jekyll devoted his
life to the
poor people of Whitechapel and intended to set up a clinic where they
could obtain free medical treatment …
QUEEN:
It shall be done.
HOUSEKEEPER:
Hooray!
WATSON:
God save the Queen!
[No.17.
Victoria] [Score]
ALL [except the Queen]:
Victoria! Victoria! May the Lord God save her!
Victoria! Victoria! And grant her all His favour!
She’s the Queen that we adore,
we’ve never had one like her before.
Not even Elizabeth the Great
had taken England and her fate
to those great heights which she’ll attain.
Oh long may Queen Victoria reign.
Victoria! Victoria!
We adore ya!
Victoria! Victoria!
India’s mighty Empress.
Victoria! Victoria!
Embodiment of progress.
Little widow, dressed in black
has something that all others lack,
for Britain’s crown is on her head,
that power that other nations dread,
the greatest empire ever seen
is symbolised in England’s Queen.
Victoria, Victoria,
We adore ya!
The
curtain falls.
CURTAIN
CALLS
The
curtain rises again showing Holmes’s sitting room as before,
but
now empty]
[No.18.
Curtain calls] [Score]
The
cast come on to take their bows as extracts from their songs are played:
Flunkeys
and Ladies-in-Waiting;
Londoners;
Agitator;
Newsboys;
Arfur
and Fanny;
Inspector
Lestrade and Mrs Halibut;
the
Prince of Wales;
Jekyll,
And, and Hyde;
Watson
and Gertrude;
Holmes.
The
Flunkeys
move the rest of the cast to one side. The Ladies-in-Waiting
move
centre stage to greet the Queen. Queen Victoria makes a grand
entrance and moves regally forward. The rest of the cast take
up
positions at the sides to sing, all except the Agitator, who may be
trouserless or drippin wet or both if desired. He stands to
one
side scowling. The Queen smiles at him and he joins in the
song.
[No.19.
Victoria: reprise] [Score]
ALL [except Queen
Victoria]:
Victoria! Victoria!
We bow the knee before her.
Victoria! Victoria!
The Empire shall adore her.
On her realms the blazing sun,
how ever far his course may run,
never sets. From East to West
the British Empire shall be blest.
Long may it spread and never cease
to bring to others Britain’s peace.
Victoria! Victoria!
We adore ya!
Queen
Victoria raises her arms to include the cast, the audience and the
Empire in her embrace.
---
{ Final Curtain
} ---
Please
remember that this musical is copyright. See Copyright and
Concessions for
permitted uses.
Gertrude
Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Index
Gertrude
Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Act I
Robin
Gordon's works: Index
Auksford
index
E-mail: robingordon.auksford@gmail.com
