Paul Nicholas examines the fine line between good and evil at The Mayflower next month.

He stars in a musical adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story Jekyll and Hyde that will have audiences on the edge of their seats.

The show has undergone many facelifts since it made its stage debut in Houston, USA in 1990.

However, it was another seven years of development before a successful four-year Broadway run began in 1997.

Some parts of the show were unrecognisable from the version that had been touring the States. Many songs had been cut and the set had been completely overhauled.

The production tells the epic story of the brilliant Doctor Jekyll, whose personality experiments on himself create a murderous counterpart, Mr Hyde.

The doctor terrifyingly shifts between his two personas in a desperate quest to separate the two natures of man.

When the evil Mr Hyde begins spreading murder and chaos through the streets of London, the gentle Dr Jeykll is forced to muster all of his strength to try and overcome his depraved alter ego.

Audiences in Southampton will be among the first in the UK to experience this fantastic story before the show makes its West End debut.

The Mayflower, Southampton. April 18 to 23. Tickets from £15. Box office: 023 8071 1811.

HAYLEY DUNLOP