Illusion and Reflection in "The Elephant Man"

“The Elephant Man” kicks off New Rep’s 30^th Season.   Appealing to both the audience’s curiosity and a dreamer’s unfilled wishes for normality, “The Elephant Man” delivers on this season’s theme of “dreams, dares, and discoveries.” 

The stage is one of the simplest this reviewer has seen at New Rep.  With the exception of a sliding wall made of mirrored glass, the rest of the stage is painted black, with a single, multi-functional black box in the center.  A solitary oboist (Louis Toth) adds a somber quality to the setting and fits well with the reflective pace of the performance.

The simplicity of the design adds additional focus to the heavy-handed mirror and illusion motif repeated throughout “The Elephant Man.”  In an early example, John Merrick (Tim Spears) impresses the actress Mrs. Kendall (Valerie Leonard) with his description of Romeo and Juliet, particularly his belief that Romeo cannot be in love with Juliet because he tests her life only by checking for her breath in a mirror.  He does not check her pulse or have a doctor examine her body, suggesting the greatest test of life is the reflection of that life, the impression a person makes upon their surroundings.

John Merrick inspires this self-reflection within the good people of 1880’s London society, arousing their sense of Christian generosity and validating their need for approval.  The time period, often called the Gilded Age, perfectly complements the characters’ desire to help and their expectation of return.  Characters reference King Leopold, Jack the Ripper, workhouses, and asylums, but those are conveniently in the background, while the moral superiority the cast derives from fulfilling their Christian burden is intensely felt and immediately evident.

Though the characters of “The Elephant Man” are largely flat, the actors do not lack passion in their roles.  Dr. Frederick Treves (Michael Kaye) spends the 2-act play mixing charity and authority, doling out small kindnesses with the unmasked hope of greater recognition.  He delivers an emotional monologue at the end of Act II, and despite his conflation of social acceptance and a cure for “the elephant man,” his sentiment is obviously heartfelt.  Spears’s performance is exceptional.  As he undergoes his transition from side-show spectacle to perpetual patient, he transforms in front of the audience from a diminutive man in a tattered shroud into the elephant man.  He contorts his face; he turns his palm and holds his arm stiffly at his chest; he juts out his hip and turns in his foot as he limps across the stage.  Suddenly he is the deformed man the doctor describes.  The transformation is remarkable, and the fact that the audience begins to forget Merrick and to only see the elephant man inspires reflection long after the performance has ended.

-Victoria Petrosino, New Rep Reviewer

Fascinating, Layered Elephant Man

New Rep opened its 30th season with the award winning and thought provoking play Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance.  The play tells the true story of John Merrick, the so called Elephant Man who lived in the 1800s – if you search for his name online, you can see pictures of the real Merrick.  The play opens showing him in a freak show in London – we are told that he exposes himself to this humiliation in order to survive.  First we see the reactions of others who have seen John, and when we first see him, his head is covered, so we do not get a good look at him until later.  One day Dr. Frederick Treves walks by and is tempted to go see Merrick, his first glance of Merrick is very short, but asks that he come to be examined.  Over the course of the play, Treves examines Merrick and eventually invites Merrick to live at London Hospital.  While living at the hospital Merrick tries whenever possible to be a normal person – whenever he sees a behavior he feels is normal, he attempts it.  At the same time, those that he interacts with eventually are able to get beyond his appearance, befriending him and seeing something of themselves in him.  

Tim Spears gives a masterful portrayal of Merrick.  While we do not see the full visual effect, no exaggerated makeup or prosthetics, but we don't need to thanks for his portrayal.  We see him fully inhabiting the character, from the speech, the posture, the use of his arms – everything.  It is hard to take your eyes off of him, this is truly a masterful portrayal.  Michael Kaye does a good job as Treves, showing the range of emotions and struggles that the doctor must have faced, he really makes character with depth.  Valerie Leonard provides a good bit of the comedy in this play as the actress and socialite Mrs. Kendal.  She is hired by the doctor in hopes that an actress would be able to hide her reaction when seeing the grotesque Merrick.  While silly at times, as her relationship grows with Merrick, it provides a much needed balance.  In addition to other actors, the production featured a single oboe played by Louis Toth sitting on the corner of the stage.  I understand there was an instrumentalist during the Broadway production as well, and I'm still unsure about this detail and what it should add to the production.  The choice to not use a mask or makeup for Merrick was an interesting one (also the case on Broadway) that I felt really worked in this case and played on the theme of perception and being able to look beyond the outer layer.  Just as those who see Merrick can have their perceptions of him change, we can imagine him as we wish, we're simply able to see the man hiding behind those deformities.  Jim Petosa's direction along with the rest of the artistic team do a great job a layering this production and giving you a lot to dissect and think about afterwards. This play was enjoyable, kept my attention for the almost 2 hour run time and also gave me something to think about for some time afterwards.  

~ Frank Furnari - New Rep Reviewer

"Elephant Man Startles, Disturbs"

Opening the New Rep’s fall season is the Tony-award-winning play, The Elephant Man. Tim Spears’ performance in the title role is nothing short of astonishing. Without costume or make-up, at times nearly naked, Spears persuades us that he is John Merrick and that the deformities he mimics are entirely real. He never breaks character by even the smallest gesture.

John Merrick is a mirror to each of the other characters. Each sees in him some part of his or her own spiritual deformity and longing for spiritual freedom. The prison of his body becomes a metaphor for the prison of Victorian propriety, where good conduct, gratitude and humility are the highest values, where spontaneity, creativity and original thought are suppressed and neurosis is just under the surface.

Frederick Treves (Michael Kaye), the physician who rescues Merrick from the street and from being displayed in a freak show, is a kind, intelligent and thoughtful man, a rational scientist who is attracted by the rarity of the disease and horrified by the treatment Merrick endures. He finds himself moved by the man’s stoicism and he is just sensitive enough to recognize Merrick’s talents and need for human company. He brings as a visitor an actress, Mrs. Kendal (Valerie Leonard). She is at first merely curious but is quickly enchanted by Merrick’s sharp insight into human character and his intellect. (Merrick’s interpretation of Romeo’s reaction to the death of Juliet astonishes her and is one of my favorite moments in the play.)

The production has a simplicity which allows the layered, nuanced play to unfold. The stage is bare and black with, at the center, a coffin-like black box which serves multiple purposes – bathtub, picnic table, sofa, bed. Mirrored sliding screens open to admit visitors to John’s cell. As actors enter and leave the center of the stage where Merrick lives, they move at a measured ceremonial pace. A solitary oboist, sitting at the corner of the stage provides transitional music and adds to the sense of pervasive sadness. The pace of the play is slow and meditative, but nonetheless mesmerizing.  

The meditative pace, the compassion at the heart of the play itself, and the utter lack of cynicism of the play and this production are unusual in the theater today (or perhaps at any time). Add brilliant acting from the three principal characters and you have an evening not to be missed.

~ Johanna Ettin and Shauna Shames, New Rep Reviewers