The Elephant Man, EmilyAnn Theatre, Wimberley, January 22 - February 14

Director Bridget Farias and the EmilyAnn Theatre crew in Wimberley are running The Elephant Man Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for four weekends in January and February, an intrepid undertaking for a community-based arts group in a town with a population of only about 4,000.

More impressive than their raw courage in taking on a tough script and slow-motion tragedy is the fact that they carry it out with grace and depth. The company creates a protected time and space in which we can muse about arbitrary fate, human connection and our responsibility for one another.

Audiences may be familiar with the story, based on historical fact as recorded by Dr. Frederick Treves, the physician who took in the disfigured young Joseph Carey Merrick. Writing many years after the events, Treves recalled his patient as "John Merrick," the name used by Bernard Pomerance for the Tony-nominated play in 1979. David Lynch made the movie in 1980 with Anthony Hopkins as Treves, John Hurt as Merrick, John Gielgud as chief physician Carr Gomm and Ann Bancroft as the actress Madge Kendal.

I haven't seen that version, though, and I encourage you simply to ignore it. Farias has assembled a capable and convincing cast for this quiet morality play, and they make the story their own.

Carl Galante as Treves and Patrick Byers as Merrick establish the key link and relationship in the story. Galante, playing the physician and man of science, is a protector and ultimately a father figure of conflicted emotions. Byers as the patiently suffering, attentive and sweet-tempered Merrick becomes a mirror to his visitors, once they learn to look past his disfigurement.

Read more and view images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Upcoming: The Elephant Man, EmilyAnn Theatre, Wimberley, January 22 - February 14

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The EmilyAnn Theatre presents

Elephant Man

by Bernard Pomerance
Directed by Bridget Farias
January 22-February 14
Friday and Saturday nights, Sunday Matinees
Tickets - $15.00 - Click here for purchase tickets online!
1101 FM 2325, Wimberley, Texas 78676 Map

Limited to no more than 35 seats per performance! Buy your tickets now online or by calling the EmilyAnn Theatre at 512-847-6969! Don't miss this wonderful production featuring an amazing cast!

"I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I am a man!"

A timeless, moving, and utterly astounding play that won a Tony award and every other major achievement for Best Play of 1979, later starring John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft and John Gielgud in the 1980 film version that received eight Oscar nominations. The Elephant Man is the true story of a remarkable man whose body, though hideously deformed, contains a remarkably sensitive, funny and intelligent being. 'Discovered' by a brilliant young doctor, Frederick Treves, John Merrick becomes the toast of society, patronized by lords, ladies, clergymen and celebrities who admired his gentleness, intelligence and deep faith. But Treves' and Merrick's belief that Merrick can become a man like any other is a dream never to be realized. Stunningly theatrical, this modern classic, laced with humor and pathos, explores the nature of courage, heroism, morality, and inner beauty.

The Elephant Man Cast

* Frederick Treves- Carl Galante
* John Merrick- Patrick Byers
* Carr Gomm- Ed Boyle
* Mrs. Kendal- Dana Naughton
* Ross- Heath Thompson
* Bishop How- Alex Deleon
* First Pin/ Lady Ellen- Laura Ray
* Second Pin/ Duchess/ London Policeman- Jessica Sharpe
* Third Pin/ Princess Alexandra/ Nurse Sandwich- Ariana Kahn
* Belgian Policeman/ Lord John- Derek Vandi
* Man/Snork- Matt Ludwig
* Conductor/ Porter- Cyrus Mallison