The Elephant Man
The Elephant Man
By Bernard Pomerance
Directed by Stephen Halpin
Starring Paul Castaneda, Jason Skinner, and Marion Marsh
Baggy Pants Theater and Greater Orlando Actors Theatre
Presenting at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre</strong>
You can be as smart as Einstein, but if you can’t communicate everyone thinks you’re an idiot. That was one of the minor issues in John Merrick’s (Castaneda) life, he suffered from a weird genetic disease that warped his limbs, grew bones out of his head and left him unsuitable for anything beyond a carny side show exhibit. His parent abandoned him, his manager robbed him, and he was on the skids until a chance encounter with Dr. Treves (Skinner) got him some help. Treves was a young and gifted surgeon; Merrick was a windfall to him. Treves not only studied him but publicized his plight, bringing in public sympathy but even more importantly cold hard cash and appointment as Surgeon to Prince Albert. Treves’ other employer London Hospital was delighted, manager Carr Grom (Mark Davids) ran the place and found it in his clasping British heart to allow Merrick to reside there cost free because of the money he brought in. But he underestimated Merricks’s life span, and once Merrick was the toast of London society Gomm couldn’t very well throw him out, all though it wouldn’t have bothered him one whit.
In this challenging and poignant show Paul Castaneda mimes Merrick’s deformity without prosthesis; he holds his foot at a painful angle, slurs his words and keeps upright with a cane. Once Treves learns how to interpret his distorted speech, Merrick reveals a smart and caring personality, but he was always kept away from women and ultimately actress Mrs. Kendall (Marsh) becomes his confidant. She’s caught showing him what was forbidden fruit in Victorian England and thus Merrick loses a friend. Well, if you can’t see a woman as God made her you could always pray about it with blustering and self-satisfied Larry Stalling as pious Bishop How; works on getting Merrick into a good British afterlife. Stalling also pops in as the carny manager; once Merrick has “made it” he returns, begging to let him abuse Merrick again but this time at a much better rate. The other scam artist in Merrick’s life is the self-promoting Lord John (Bret Carson), he’s a bigger, slicker dealer than the others, and actually runs off with a large chuck of change in a failed and poorly explains stock deal.
This stage play takes a much different road than the film you may have seen elsewhere. “The Elephant Man” is about gaining acceptance, both through Merricks’s struggle but also the machinations of Treves’ career, Bishop’s swindles, and Grom’s fund raising. Naturally we all want acceptance, and we use what skills we have to achieve it even if those skills are pathos and the misery of others. Merrick’s was in many ways blessed, he could have easily frozen to death in a ditch but his deformity was so sever it made others wealthy or at least well off. Perhaps Merrick was exploited, but perhaps he exploited others – the story is a tangle, but one with plenty of subtext, strategy, and humanity.
For more information on Greater Orlando Actor’s Theatre, please visit http://http://www.goatgroup.com/
For more information on Baggy Pants Theatre, please visit http://www.baggypantstheater.com
