Chemical Imbalance Review

By: Elena Mullenix, Columnist, Podcaster

The play, Chemical Imbalance, put on by the Lone Star College-Kingwood.  This play was wonderfully put together by Professor Skiles, the whole cast, and the stage management team. Hats off to everyone! Chemical Imbalance follows the story of Jekyll and Hyde, but with a modern twist…the modern twist being the humor and comedy put forth by each character. 

The play takes place in Victorian England, and the setting begins in the Jekyll’s household. In the play, you have Dr. Jekyll performing several experiments on the nature of good and evil. He eventually finds the perfect concoction of the nature of evil, and he promptly drinks it which turns him into his alter ego, Hyde. His family has no knowledge of this occurrence, but they are eerily aware of the number of murders in their neighborhood. As the play comes to an end the Jekyll household begins to consumed by chaos, as everyone in the house struggles to keep Hyde contained.

Some of the things that really work for the play are the acting, comedy, sound effects, and lighting. Each character in the play is convincing, and there isn’t one moment in the play that made me think that the actor isn’t in character. Along with that, the dark comedy used throughout this was so delightful! I really enjoyed the humor used in the play. It really works in the actor’s favor.

 I also loved how there was a person off to the side of the stage that is in charge of sound effects. Honestly, I thought the sound effects were going to come from a soundboard, but by making use of sound like this made the production is unique. Lastly, I also enjoyed the use of lighting for changing between settings and scenes. It was smooth and effortless, and it doesn’t leave me feeling like there was a sense of urgency which could cause something to mess up for the set.

One thing that I feel that could use a bit of improvement is the articulation of the words by much of the cast. They all had great accents, however; at times it was hard to understand what some of the actors were saying. I feel like the words could have been projected or articulated a little bit better. Overall, I would have to say that by articulating the words a little bit better, it would have been easier to understand what the actors were saying.

 Now, there were things that could be improved on, but for the most part the play was performed extremely well. The acting was fantastic, and I absolutely enjoyed the play! If this play is offered in the future, I’d recommend as many people as I could to go see it. Everyone who is part of the production of the play did a fantastic job.

In conclusion, Chemical Imbalance was one of the best productions I’ve seen in a long time. From what I’ve seen on that stage Professor Skiles, the cast, and stage management did an extraordinary job putting on this show. It’s such a good start to the beginning of the year for the LSC-Kingwood Theater department, I can’t wait to see what they have in store for the rest of the year.