Theater Review - "The Elephant Man"

THEATER REVIEW “The Elephant Man””

Produced by: BroadHollow Theatre Company - Lindenhurst - Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur

Our English literature, and in particular our American stage, is replete with drama that plays the grotesque against the beautiful, the evil against the godly, the freakish against the normal. We need look no farther than the tale of ugly Cyrano de Bergerac pursuing the lovely Roxanne … sinister King Richard III murdering two innocent young cousins in the Tower of London … or simian King Kong’s infatuation with a wholesome ingénue played by Faye Wray.

That said, I found the wordy plot of “The Elephant Man” a bit too familiar, when it could have been an overall jaw-dropper. But there, the criticism ends.

As it is, this play, staged in the ‘I can almost touch you’ confines of the comfortable BroadHollow Studio Theater in Lindenhurst, becomes a tour de force for the magnificently gifted Michael Quattrone who plays the title role to near-perfection … no, make that outright perfection … because it’s hard to imagine Quattrone (or anyone) improving on his interpretation of the real-life Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick, who for some reason is called John in this play written by Tony Award winning Bernard Pomerance.

It must be acknowledged that “The Elephant Man’ debuted on Broadway to critical acclaim, and closed at the Booth Theater only after turning in more than 900 performances! Like so many successful Broadway shows, the drama had been introduced at the Hampstead Theater in London, later playing in repertory at the Royal National Theatre. The play then seemed to strike a nerve among American audiences when it ran off-Broadway for three months at the York Theatre. It was an auspicious beginning for a thoroughly promising show.

Significantly, “The Elephant Man” is based on the life of a gentleman who lived in the Victorian era, and was known internationally for the extreme deformity of his body. While the story remains faithful to a detailed description of Joseph Merrick’s unique disfigurement, the production of the play dealing with the deformity has always steadfastly refrained from the use of prosthetic makeup to display Merrick’s malady.

The resulting challenge to improvisers has been seized upon by stars such as David Schofield, Bruce Davidson, David Bowie, and Mark Hamill, but none, in this critic’s view, has required more skill than that shown by Quattrone in meeting director Marian Waller’s demands.

In a rare post-performance interview, I asked the Hofstra graduate if he’d used tape, or wax, or other face-altering materials to enable him to endure the 90-minute, no-intermission marathon that is “The Elephant Man.”

“Just a lot of stretching,” he replied with a self-effacing grin. But most actors couldn’t have pulled off the hour-and-a-half-long simulation for five minutes!

The six other players in “Elephant Man” are capable … their costumes are adequately Period Victorian … the lighting works quite well … but in the final analysis, everyone at BroadHollow in Lindenhurst on Sunday was tuned on the ‘maker of the feast.’ Once more, his name is Michael Quattrone, and make no mistake, he will be heard from again and again in theater circles. Furthermore we will be proud to say we traveled to the South Shore venue to see him deliver this astounding theatrical performance.

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Award-winning Smithtown writer Jeb Ladouceur is the author of eight novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. In Ladouceur’s next thriller, “Harvest” due this summer, an American doctor is forced to perform illegal surgeries for a gang of vital organ traffickers in The Balkans.