BoHo Theatre presents The Elephant Man at Theater Wit, Closes 2/6/11

BoHo Theatre's production of Bernard Pomerance's The Elephant Man, winner of the Tony, Drama Desk, and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for best play, will close February 6, 2011 at Theater Wit, 1229 W Belmont Avenue. The Elephant Man is directed by June Eubanks.

"He makes all of us think he is deeply like ourselves. And yet we're not like each other. I conclude that we have polished him like a mirror, and shout hallelujah when he reflects us to the inch. I have grown sorry for it." -The Elephant Man

In Victorian London, Dr. Frederick Treves discovers the misshapen, stunted John Merrick in a freak show and rescues him in order to study his peculiar deformity. But Merrick turns out to be unusually bright and articulate, and soon becomes the toast of high society. His new popularity, however, only increases his frustration and isolation created by his deformed exterior. Has he simply traded one freak show for another? BoHo brings this thrillingly intimate story to life with a boldly physical staging that highlights the layers of self, intentional and not, that separate us all from each other.

LISTING INFORMATION

The Elephant Man
By Bernard Pomerance
Directed by June Eubanks
Cast: Thad Anzur, Zach Bloomfield, Jill Connolly, Cameron Feagin, Michael Kingston, Michael Mercier, Steve O'Connell, Laura Rook, Stephanie Sullivan, and Mike Tepeli as John Merrick.

Theater Wit

1229 W Belmont Ave, Chicago
For tickets, call the Theater Wit Box Office at 773-975-8150 or visit www.BoHoTheatre.com
Opening weekend (Jan. 7 - 9) ticket price: $18
Regular run ticket price: $25

BIOS

Bernard Pomerance (Playwright)
Pomerance moved to London in his early 30s after attending the University of Chicago in the 1960s. In England, he began working with small, innovative theatre groups. With stage director Roland Rees, he founded the FoCo Novo theatre group, named after one of Pomerance's plays, which served as the company's inaugural production. He went on to pen an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's A Man's A Man as well as his most famous work, The Elephant Man, which the company produced in 1977. The play was a hit, earning a Tony Award for Best Play in 1979. In 1980, David Lynch directed a film called The Elephant Man, which drew heavily from the play but was not a direct adaptation. Pomerance sued the production for infringement and won. Since that time, Pomerance has published only a few plays and one novel. He currently lives in New Mexico.

June Eubanks (Director)
June Eubanks has been directing and performing in the Chicago area for the past 8 years. Some of her favorite projects include directing Cold, Cold Feet (an original play by Tony Fiorentino) for Diamante Productions, performing roles in Top Girls with 20% Theatre Company and The Body Snatchers with City Lit, writing and directing short one-acts entitled The Kiddy Pool and I Saw You for various projects at Hugen Hall (at the Strawdog Theatre Co. space), and directing Low (an original play by Robert Tobin) with AstonRep. June received her MFA in Directing from Illinois State University in 2000, and directed Taming of the Shrew in Miami and an original play entitled After the Party in New York prior to moving here.

BoHo Theatre structures each of its season around the four pillars of Bohemian philosophy: Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love. BoHo's 2010/11 mainstage season features Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Roger Miller and William Hauptman, The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance, Dirty Blonde by Claudia Shear, and Icarus by Edwin Sanchez.

BoHo Theatre seeks to challenge convention through literary originality and eclectic expression while fostering an ever-evolving artistic environment in which people are inspired to learn, think, dream, and feel; to teach others and ourselves how to expand, create, and present art through theatre while reveling not only in the process, but also in the journey.

 

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