"The Elephant Man" is based on the life of John Merrick, who lived in London during the latter part of the nineteenth century. A horribly deformed young man, who has been a freak attraction in traveling side shows, is found abandoned and helpless and is admitted for observation to Whitechapel, a prestigious London hospital. Under the care of a famous young doctor, who educates him and introduces him to London society, Merrick changes from a sensational object of pity to the urbane and witty favorite of the aristocracy and literati. But his belief that he can become a man like any other is a dream never to be realized.
Elephant Man
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Modern theatrical masterwork,
By Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Elephant Man: A Play (Paperback)
I can think of few films that have touched me as deeply as Lynch's "The Elephant Man." Hence, I was prepared for an anticlimactic theater piece when I picked up the script and subsequently attended the play. To my surprise, it's every bit as powerful as the film--in no way a replacement for Lynch's supreme achievement but a necessary complement to it.
Pomerance' play concentrates on Dr. Frederick Treves, whose experience places him in the company of Conrad's Marlowe. By the end of the play his promotion to knighthood is one more empty Victorian consolation added to a career that has become meaningless. In his powerful, climactic "corset" speech he rises to social indictment of the highest order--a recognition of the "horror" and a denunciation of the shallow, exploitive, self-deluded, spiritless society that he would prefer to be no part of (his epiphany is also suggestive of Charles Smithson's in "The French Lieutenant's Woman"). Juxtaposed with the film, Pomerance's play makes us aware of the power of the theater of the imagination. Unlike the movie, whose requirements for verisimilitude led John Hurt to putting on facial make-up for six hours prior to each day's shoot, the play's John Merrick appears without disguise. His normal features are soon replaced, however, by the audience's realization that Merrick could be--and is--any one of us. Both a little less realistic and less sentimental than the film, the play is at the same time a provocative and moving study in self-discovery.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Elephant Man: A Moving Drama,
By Leslie Boudreaux (United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Elephant Man: A Play (Paperback)
The true story of John Merrick, an outcast reinvited into society, is tragic, moving, and thought-provoking. Merrick's relationships with a sympathitic doctor and a bold actress bring to life the deformed man's deepest thoughts and ambitions, leaving the reader caught in the world of a romantic artist. The irony of Merrick's desire to be like everyone else is displayed clearly by supporting characters' hypocracy and cynicism. I highly recommend The Elephant Man to anyone who enjoys dramatic theatre.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Elephant Man: A Play, not to be confused with the film,
By Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: The Elephant Man: A Play (Paperback)
Although it was assumed that Bernard Pomerance's play "The Elephant Man" was the basis for the David Lynch film, that it not the case. Of course, both the play and the film are based on the real life of John Merrick, so it is not surprising that the relationship between Merrick and his physician, Sir Frederick Treves, is not surprising. The chief conceit of this play is introduced in Scene III, when the actor playing Merrick contorts himself to approximate projected slides of the real Merrick while Treves lectures on the Elephant Man's condition. As Pomerance points out in his introductory note, Merrick's face was sufficiently deformed that his speech was very difficult to understand. Consequently, "Any attempt to reproduce his appearance and his speech naturalistically--IF it were possible--would seem to me not only counterproductive, but, the more remarkably successful, the more distracting from the play." Pomerance captures the plight of Merrick, rescued from being a freak attraction in traveling sideshows, he is educated and introduced to London society. But although Merrick is changed from an object of pity to a favorite of high society, he is denied the chance to lead a normal life. Pomerance uses the model Merrick made of the St. Philip's Church as a central metaphor for the Elephant Man's life at London Hospital. The play is episodic in nature, and we actually learn much more about the people in Merrick's life than we do about the man himself. Pomerance's movie and theatrical play won all the major drama awards including the Tony, Obie, Drama Desk Award and New York Drama Critics Circle Award. If you are interested in either the Lynch film or the life of John Merrick, then this play is a worthy of your consideration as Treves's work "The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences," which is reprinted in "The Elephant Man, A Study in Human Dignity" by Ashley Montagu.
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