The Elephant Man Will Make You Cry Elephant Tears (Review)

Posted by on October 15, 2011 in Entertainment | 3 comments

Yesterday I saw The Elephant Man for the first time at The Warehouse Theatre (note: see disclosure at the bottom) which is based on the semi-tragic life of Joseph Merrick (who is incorrectly called John Merrick thanks in part to his doctor). Joseph (who is frequently called John or “Johnny” throughout the play) suffered from Proteus syndrome and Neurofibromatosis which caused massive deformities on the right side of his body.

Unlike the Metamorphosis skit (which I enjoyed mostly for its humor and technical achievements), The Elephant Man is an emotional drama which strums your heart strings like a guitar as you watch Merrick endure injustice and ridicule throughout the earlier years of his life, then later on experience fame and respect from the British élite during the latter years of his life.

What set The Warehouse Theatre’s portrayal of Merrick from the movie (which I think a few of my friends have seen) was that they did not use any special makeup or prosthetics to portray Merrick which made it harder to view the character as a freak of nature (even though images of him were displayed on a large screen).

Ironically the lack of prosthetics and makeup did help “humanize” Merrick, which helps you see him as he truly is: an intelligent being who was not only curious about the world around him but also a deep thinker (I dare say philosopher as well).

The acting and scenes were top of the class (as expected), although the scene depicting Merrick’s death (or rather before it) was…weird (as those two giggly girls ruined the moment in my honest opinion).

Overall this was another excellent skit by The Warehouse Theatre, although hopefully next time they will allow us to take pictures and short videos (say 15-30 seconds) during the drama (as it’s hard to describe a two hour drama with nothing but text).

Disclosure: The Warehouse Theatre provided free seasonal tickets in exchange to hear my views about the skit (the good, bad and awesome). Aside from that the opinions expressed here are my own, and in my honest opinion The Elephant Man is worth seeing in person.

Image Credit: British Medical Journal

  • Stephen Boatright

    Hey Darnell,

    Thanks for helping to spread the word about theater at the Warehouse! I had a couple of thoughts I wanted to share. You probably don’t realize this, but the word “skit” has a really negative connotation in the theater world. “Plays” are dramatic or comedic explorations of human character; “skits” are when the football players dress up as the cheerleaders during a pep rally. :-)

    Also, on the video/photo thing, there are a couple of issues. The main problem is that the theater legally cannot allow video or photography. When they license the right to perform the play from the publisher, the contract specifies that, due to copyright, no recording of any kind is allowed. I am the photographer who handles the promotional images for the theater, and that means even I have rules I have to abide by in those areas. If you want some images to accompany your posts, though, I’d recommend contacting the theater as they have images for just that purpose.

    And on the no texting/tweeting rule, that is for the safety of the performers and the comfort of the rest of the audience. If someone’s cell phone is glowing, illuminating one face in the darkness, the actors will see it and be distracted, which can lead to them stepping off the edge of a platform, missing a cue, etc. And it’s a huge distraction to anyone sitting near you.

    Intermission is a great time to step outside and tweet/google+/etc.

    Thanks!

    -Stephen

    • http://www.darnellclayton.com darnell

      Thanks for replying Stephen!

      I do understand the copyright issue, and next time I’ll contact the theatre to see if they have any photos/videos available.

      As far as cell phone screens go, we can always darken it to around 15% or less (which is very dim), allowing us to tweet, etc. without distracting the actors.

      As far as Skit goes, same difference. ;-) But you’re right about distinguishing the two (as whenever I think of Skit I think of Glee).

    • http://www.darnellclayton.com Darnell Clayton

      Thanks for replying Stephen!

      I do understand the copyright issue, and next time I’ll contact the theatre to see if they have any photos/videos available.

      As far as cell phone screens go, we can always darken it to around 15% or less (which is very dim), allowing us to tweet, etc. without distracting the actors.

      As far as Skit goes, same difference. ;-) But you’re right about distinguishing the two (as whenever I think of Skit I think of Glee).