Blackpool Grand – until Saturday 21st October 2023
Reviewed by Debra Skelton
5*****
Nottingham Playhouse presents The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man which is written by Tom Wright and directed by Stephen Bailey.
This can be seen at the Blackpool Grand Theatre until Saturday 21st October and must not be missed.
The play is based on the well know story of Joseph Carey Merrick born in Leicester England in August 1862 who became famous for his face and body deformities because of an undiagnosed illness.
At an early age, he began to show signs of a peculiar disorder which caused abnormal growths on much of the skin and bone across his body with his head increasing to 3 feet in circumference.
When his mother died and his father remarried, both his father and stepmother did not want him to remain at home so at 17, he went to live in a workhouse where he remained for four years before escaping to join showman Sam Torr. Merrick asked Torr to show him as a freak exhibition where he was displayed as ‘The Elephant Man’. Merrick stayed with the show touring around the East Midlands until he left to go to London.
In London he lived in a shop on Whitechapel Road where people would pay to see him. He did not stay long here as the shop was closed by the police, so Joseph moved to Belgium for a while until returning to England after being robbed by his manager and left alone in Brussels.
After finding his way back to London, he is taken to a hospital by surgeon doctor Frederick Treves who had seen Joseph and taken photographs of him when he lived on Whitechapel Road.
Joseph was allowed to live at the hospital for the rest of his life but had to endure the rich and famous people of Victorian London coming to visit him there. He died there at the age of 27 on 11 April 1890 from asphyxia or a broken neck. It is still not known for sure what Joseph suffered from, but scientists believe it could have been either neurofibromatosis type I or Proteus syndrome.
What I liked about this play was the way that Tom Wright looked at the view of Joseph himself and focused on him as a person and the way that he felt when people considered him a freak rather than a human being.
The cast themselves were unbelievable, especially bringing their disabilities into the production which only made this play phenomenal. Their talent, passion, energy, and enthusiasm shone throughout and just showed to me that you can achieve what you want no matter what.
Zak Ford-Williams an actor with cerebral palsy plays Joseph Merrick and by using his own condition instead of recreating Joseph’s actual appearance was a truly brilliant idea. Nadia Nadarajah, who is deaf, sensitively portrays Nurse Willison, who is tender and understanding towards Joseph. The rest of the cast included Annabelle Davis, Daneka Etchells, Killian Thomas Lefevre and Tim Pritchett who gave outstanding performances which led to a standing ovation at the end of the night.
A special thanks also needs to go to the creative and production team of which there are many in providing such and adaptable set, authentic costumes, lighting, and music.