The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company continues its 2016-2017 mainstage season with The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance, a stirring modern classic about humanity and compassion, playing October 14-November 5, 2016. This production is directed by CSC Producing Artistic Director, Brian Isaac Phillips and features the Cincinnati Shakespeare Resident Ensemble including Giles Davies, Brent Vimtrup, Barry Mulholland, Kelly Mengelkoch, and Billy Chace. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
The Tony Award-winning The Elephant Man tells the true-life story of John Merrick (Giles Davies), a man whose profound physical deformities drive him first into a Victorian workhouse and then into employment as a sideshow curiosity. Dr. Frederick Treves (Brent Vimtrup), a physician at London's Royal Hospital, encounters Merrick by chance and recognizes a deeply intelligent and curious mind behind Merrick's startling exterior, and sets out to rescue him from his grim surroundings. As the world opens up to Merrick, he realizes that it is both more beautiful and more cruel than he could have imagined.
Critically acclaimed and the winner of numerous awards, The Elephant Man premiered on Broadway in 1979 winning the Tony Award for Best Play that year. The play's recent revival featuring Bradley Cooper as Merrick, won the 2015 Tony Award for Beat Revival of a Play, among other accolades. In addition to Bradley Cooper, the lead role of Merrick has been portrayed by David Bowie, Mark Hamill, Bruce Davison, David Schofield, and many more. In the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company production, long-time Resident Ensemble favorite, Giles Davies will be featured as Merrick. The play calls for no prosthetic makeup on the actor portraying Merrick; the actor portrays Merrick's deformity through physicality, letting the audience imagine Merrick's appearance.
Mr. Phillips directs a vivid and imaginative staging of this classic script, incorporating a strong Victorian aesthetic. This production will also offer on-stage audience seating, evocative of the nineteenth century's operating theatres and is a tribute to the early days of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company on Race Street when on-stage seating was offered for its productions.
The theater currently is located at 719 Race Street, downtown Cincinnati, two blocks west of the Aronoff Center. Single ticket prices range from $22-$38 on Thursdays and Sundays and from $26-$42 on Fridays and Saturdays. Previews are $25. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the CSC Box Office at 513.381.BARD (2273) ext. 1, or go online at www.cincyshakes.com.
Photo Credit: Mikki Schaffner Photography
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
Giles Davies as Joseph Merrick
Giles Davies as Joseph Merrick
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
Giles Davies as Joseph Merrick
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
The cast of THE ELEPHANT MAN at Cincinnati Shakespeare
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