The cobweb-fringed set, backed by a red curtain, hints at a theatrical, Victorian pastiche.

But Nick Lane’s adaptation fleshes out Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale - making Jekyll’s motivation, and his struggle with his transformation, seem richer, more nuanced.

Instead of a medical man fascinated with exploring his own nature, Jekyll is fixated on creating a potion to cure mental illness - so the gap between his philanthropic ideals, and the vicious man he becomes, seems all the more tragic.

In James Weaver’s unsettling portrayal, Jekyll is crippled physically - walking with the aid of a stick and nursing a withered left hand - and socially, seemingly indifferent to sex and social etiquette.

The rampaging Hyde, cold-eyed and swaggering, grabs at his pleasures.

Hull Truck’s production makes good use of sound effects to underscore his transformation - a booming heartbeat as Jekyll swigs the potion - and, elsewhere, fragments of classical music and songs by Tristan Parkes which, at points, gives the drama a filmic feel.

Overall though, it proves a forceful piece of theatrical storytelling - using direct address and multiple-role playing from the three cast members.

The Gothic twist at the end - the final masterstroke of Lane’s adaptation - manages to be both happy and hair-raising.