The Elephant Man

This one-man show is based on the true story of Joseph Maverick – a freak of Victorian society due to the extraordinary facial features which lent him a grotesque elephant-like appearance.

Saul Jaffé is amazingly talented in bringing to life the various characters, sometimes with the aid of simple trapeze acrobatics. The hilarious and engaging proprietor, who welcomes us to the show and even indulges in some quick-witted stand-up, also provides light relief from the more serious issues of the main story. Then there is Joseph Merrick himself, and with a green velvet smoking jacket as the only change in costume, it is a huge credit to Jaffé’s acting skills that he vividly recreates the gross deformities and painful experiences from which the character suffers.

This story is most famously portrayed in the 1980 David Lynch film The Elephant Man and the play clearly takes much inspiration from this. The production suffers from trying to condense a lengthy, intricate narrative into just one hour, and the script often just skims the surface of characters and events. The eventual celebrity status Joseph Maverrick attains is touched upon, but this is hardly striking enough to provide an examination of the current obsession with celebrity, as claimed in the programme.

This script and interpretation of the story may not be groundbreaking, but the performance serves as a touching reminder of the sensitive intricacies of the film, and the play is well worth seeing for Jaffé’s fantastic acting.

http://www.proteustheatre.com/