Troupe 7663’s Chemical Imbalance: Horrifyingly Funny

The Green & Blackfriars, WGHS’s drama troupe, recently performed a rendition of Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll & Hyde Play, a comedic thriller based on the Victorian tale, at Church at the Grove. Running from 10/2 to 10/4, the show captured the hearts and minds of the audience during its brief runtime. Here’s what three of the minds behind the show had to say:
by Emery Brown

Maddox Daher, a junior, starred as the titular Dr Jekyll, as well as his maniacal alter ego, Mr Hyde. “Playing the lead in the show is one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt,” He states, “The best way I can describe it is the feeling of trying your absolute hardest in something and succeeding to the fullest.”

Some may wonder, considering the complex nature of the character, was he difficult to portray? Maddox answers, “The most difficult part of portraying my character was trying to balance the comedy and the drama. The show is mostly a comedy to poke fun at Victorian times. However, there were times in the show where there was no comedy and purely tragedy, and it’s a lot more difficult to balance comedy and tragedy than to be purely one or the other.”

As an actor on stage, you must expect the unexpected, especially when there’s a mishap. Maddox reflects on one of these moments, “I would say the best unscripted and unexpected moment would have to be when our sets team misplaced a knife I was supposed to stab someone with, so instead I was forced to think on the fly and attack someone with a feather duster.”

“Chemical Imbalance was one of the most unique shows I have ever performed in, and it will stick out for one reason and one reason alone.” Maddox concludes, looking back on the show as a whole, “It was an uphill battle. Every day, something went wrong. Every day, something got set back. And even when we had lost everything, we rose to the occasion. And it wasn’t just one person; it was everyone. It was everyone, everyone did their part, and in the end, I believe that is what contributed to the massive success of Chemical Imbalance.”

Ms. Gibson, who directed the performance, also deems Chemical Imbalance a success. “I think that, overall, the entire process was successful, because the kids were able to learn a little bit more about the source material, and they walked away knowing something about a story they didn’t know before.”

The location change offered many challenges for Troupe 7663, forcing rehearsals to take place entirely within the drama and chorus rooms. Despite this, it had its positives. “We were able to build really strong community relationships with Church at the Grove, where we had never worked with them previously,” Ms. Gibson states, “But, they were wonderful in offering their space, and the kids got to see what it was like closer to a professional theater where they only have a few days to be able to move into the space.”

Jackson Knight, a senior, served as the lighting operator for the show. From his perspective, the location change was highly pivotal. “I definitely felt the physical effects of not having stage lights, sound, space, etc.” Despite the technical difficulties, not being able to perform in WGHS’s own auditorium hurt emotionally more than anything. “We’ve had our best and worst moments there, and to not have it kinda stings.”

Jackson, a lifelong actor with a laundry list of achievements who has found his new home on the tech crew, believes that despite losing many seasoned members in the past year, Chemical Imbalance provided opportunities to up-and-coming talents, “. . . While most people see the loss of people as a setback, it’s only shown to be a great opportunity to get more actors in the spotlight.”

As for the future of Troupe 7663, Ms. Gibson hopes to see high attendance for the Fundamentals I and II performance of A Night Under the Stars in November, as well as The Amazing Lemonade Girl in December, leaving off by announcing that the Spring musical of choice will be High School Musical.