The Elephant Man

Synopsis

'John Merrick has no hope nor expectation of relief. In every sense his situation is desperate. His physical agony is exceeded only by his mental anguish, a despised creature without consolation.' The Elephant Man is the moving portrayal of John Merrick. Hideously deformed at birth by a rare disease and later used as a freak attraction by nineteenth-century circus owners, Merrick is befriended by a young doctor named Dreves, who provides him with a home at the London Hospital. Here Merrick undergoes a painful self-analysis that strips bare Victorian preconceptions about normality and the parameters of faith. Even those who love him can't help him from his horrible affliction. A raging success both in Britain and on Broadway, the play sparked huge interest in its subject and led to the 1980 film starring John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins. The Elephant Man was first produced in 1977 at the Hampstead Theatre, with David Schofield in the title role.

Our Review:

4 March 2008

Bernard Pomerance suffers from what might be called Harper Lee Syndrome, known for one influential, acclaimed and popular work and little else, though the internet informs us that other plays of his were also staged by experimental theatre group Foco Novo. However, 30 years on, The Elephant Man remains a vital and enthralling play, certainly in its triumphant realisation by Sheffield Theatres.

It would surely be impossible to make a dull play out of the story of Joseph (or John) Merrick, the Elephant Man – a story that was far less well known before Pomerance’s play. Hideously disfigured by a disorder that defied diagnosis, Merrick was rescued from the Victorian world of freak shows by Frederick Treves, the distinguished surgeon of the London Hospital. Doomed to an early death because of his physiological abnormalities, Merrick spent his last years in some comfort, feted by the great and the good.

The Elephant Man concentr...

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james - 15 June 2010:

GH...

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