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Peer Reviews The Elephant
Man Entire contents are copyright © 2007 Kate Barry. All rights reserved.
There are stories about men who are so mythical that they become legends and the truth is often confused with fiction. The Elephant Man, performed by the Wayward Actors Company, gives an intimate point of view of one mythical man's life and his struggle with the society around him as he longs for acceptance and, more importantly, a home. As audience members enter the MeX at the Kentucky Center for the Arts, they are taken into a dark and lonely setting, with only a bucket on stage accompanied by two lights hanging from the ceiling. Michael Harris' simple turn-of-the-century set designs provide an eerie, otherness mood for the morality play. Every set piece, from the freak-show banner to the miniature castle that the title character builds in the second act, accentuates the tone beautifully.
The Elephant Man tells the story of John Merrick, who is born with severe body abnormalities in his bones and muscles and is thrown into the dark world of the freak-show circuit at the turn of century. He is shown pity by Dr. Frederick Treves as the doctor rescues Merrick from the sideshow only to make him a science experiment in his labs. Joseph Ian Hatfield embodies Merrick’s physical form with limps, a puffed-up lip and other assorted bodily quirks that were so real that Strausburg would be impressed. The chemistry between Hatfield and Craig Nolan Highley, who plays Dr. Treves, is heartbreaking as Dr. Treves rejects anyone who stares at Merrick for being different yet cannot fully let the young man enjoy the pleasures of what would be a normal life. Jennifer Shank gave a notable performance as Mrs. Kendal, an actress Dr. Treves hires to be a companion for John Merrick. Her beauty shines both outwardly and inwardly as she doesn’t even flinch when she sees Merrick for the first time. Daniel Recktenwald was equally as compelling as Ross, Merrick's keeper while he lives in the freak show. As Ross left Merrick on the street to be discovered by police, the audience gasped and nearly booed at the wrongs. Aside from some kinks to be expected from opening night, Wayward Actors produced a fine production of one ordinary man’s life which turned into the stuff of legend.
The Elephant Man http://www.waywardactors.org/
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