Tom Dignum and Kyle Cluett in BLT’s February 2015 production of ‘The Elephant Man’, directed by Tony Jenner.
Fri 13 – Sat 21 February 2015 at 7.45pm (not Sun 15)
The Elephant Man
by Bernard Pomerance
Directed by Tony Jenner
Read the Sardines magazine’s review of this show
NOTE: Contains FULL male & female nudity
Forget the David Lynch movie version of the story of the horribly disfigured John Merrick – in this stage version, it is the dramatist’s instruction that Merrick, the ‘Elephant Man’ himself, be played without prosthetics or special makeup, relying on the actor’s skill and the audience’s imagination to provide his grotesque deformities. Fairground freak shows may not be acceptable today but we have our own form of voyeurism in exploitative television programmes that pander to the same feelings. This play makes us question those feelings as it explores Merrick’s story through dramatic story-telling – at times harsh, sometimes humorous but always engaging and compassionate.
CAST:
Paul Ackroyd : Carr Gomm/Conductor
Charis Anna Beyer : Pinhead/Countess
Kyle Cluett : John Merrick
Tom Dignum : Ross
Hazal Han : Pinhead/Duchess
Dennis Packham : Bishop Walsham How
James Riley : Belgian Policeman/Porter
Emma Sweeney : Mrs Kendal
Steve Williams : Frederick Treves
Peter Yolland : London Policeman/Snork
Robert Dilks : Man/Lord John
Penny Cullen : Pinhead/Princess Alexandra/Nurse Sandwich
Running time: 110 minutes including 20 minute interval