Seasoned actor revels in the dual roles of Jekyll and Hyde

Either way, this stage adaptation by David Edgar also offers value for money with the type of lighting, sound and stage design not always afforded to touring theatre.

In capturing the candle-lit shadows, smoky exteriors and ghostly half-light the Touring Consortium production is first class.

Edgar has returned the story to its origins and the Victorian fascination with human personality.

So it’s less of the macabre mystery story than a philosophical examination of the way in which good and evil can co-exist in the human heart.

Which gives the play itself something of a split personality.

While the eminently-respectable Dr Jekyll debates his theories, at length and in-depth, with his contemporaries, his villainous counterpart plays Hyde and seek with them.

But it does give a seasoned actor like Phil Daniels the full opportunity to revel in the title roles, even if his heavy Scottish brogue is not always so coherent.

There are just enough tricks, of sound and light, to keep some on the edge of their seats while others simply revel in a quality piece of theatre.

DAVID UPTON

Dr JEKYLL & MR HYDE

Grand Theatre, Blackpool

Until Saturday