SKILLED actor John Stenhouse faces a real challenge when he takes the lead role in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the next production from the Company of Ten.

Playing two different characters in one production requires considerable skill but in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the two often need to morph into one another requiring a special kind of actor to carry it off.

Scotsman John, who is the director of the Harpenden Hearts Youth Theatre and the Youth Theatre at the new Espinosa Chute Dance and Arts Academy in Berkhamsted, has been a member of the Abbey Theatre since 2004 when he appeared as a memorable Macduff in Macbeth and a brooding Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre.

Recently he won the best actor award at the Welwyn Festival.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, adapted from the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson by David Edgar, runs at the Abbey Theatre from November 12 to 20 and tickets are available from the box office on 01727 857861 and from www.abbeytheatre.org.uk

n The charity performance of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde on Thursday, November 11, is for the Cancer Treatment and Research Trust (CTRT) at Mount Vernon which has just spent several years raising �1.5 million for the building of a new state-of-the-art clinical trials and chemotherapy unit at the cancer centre.

Tickets for the November 11 performance are �12 each, which includes a glass of wine or juice on arrival. There will also be a grand raffle which will be drawn at the end of the performance.

For tickets or further information contact Dave or Gill Stuart on 01727 768354, mobiles 07798 846528/07880 741205 or email dave.stuart@ntlworld.com