SECRET lives, hidden meanings and changing identities amid the swirling London mists of 1885 are at the heart of the Company of Ten’s next production, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

The play, which the St Albans drama group insists is just right for a November evening – particularly as the Abbey Theatre has a nice warm bar – tackles the story of the strange, primitive and vicious man on the loose who kills without reason, chuckling at his cleverness.

A tense and gripping tale, it exposes the duplicities that lurked and swirled like the yellow mists under the proud Victorian society that seemed so certain of itself.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde runs from next Friday, November 12, until Saturday, November 20, and tickets are available on 01727 857861 or go to www.abbeytheatre.org.uk