Theater for the New City Presents THE ELEPHANT PEN, Now thru 7/17

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY - Circus goers typically marvel at the power and restrained grace of an elephant in the ring, taking on delicate poses unusual for such gigantic creatures. But the process by which that power is tamed can serve as a metaphor for the human condition.

Theater for the New City Executive Director Crystal Field is presenting "The Elephant Pen," a new play by a Canadian playwright Etienne Lepage, directed by Lissa Moira, adapted and translated by Philippe "Keb" Blanchard with George Isaacs and Larry Johnson, July 7-17.

A thriller without intermission, the play draws its title from the process used to domesticate these animals - to shed light on the way human beings learn to become prisoners of their own limitations.

"When a young elephant is trained for the circus, they put a spike in the ground and a chain and manacle around its leg, so it can't get away," Moira said of a process with psychological parallels among human beings. "When it's a huge animal, they do the same thing, even though it could break the chain and get away. But it doesn't, because it doesn't believe it can. It is so imprinted to believe it can't break that chain that it doesn't do it."

"The Elephant Pen" - no relation to "The Elephant Man" - is the second play that Theater for the New City has presented by Lepage, adapted by Blanchard. Tickets are $18 available by clicking the Tix. link.

It's part of TNC's presence as a venue for theater from around the globe, bringing playwrights, authors and groups from New York City, the nation and places ranging from Israel to China. TNC earlier presented Lepage's play titled "Bite Your Tongue."

"We've enjoyed his work. This play was so obviously superior," said Moira, noting Lepage's plays are more frequently presented in Canada and Belgium. "Every time I read it, it sent a chill up my spine. It didn't lose its power after several readings."

This follow's Moira's recent direction of a re-imagining of John Patrick Shanley's "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea," also with two performers, at TNC.

Let's Talk Off Broadway of that production said "You can't find better theater anywhere," noting that the actors "working with Lissa Moira's deeply understanding direction create a world. I didn't want to leave the world when it's over, and I'll never forget it."

Theater is Easy called the presentation "top notch" and under Moira's direction, a "gripping and powerful" production.

"It's a fight and a dance at the same time. That was the playwright's intention," Moira said of "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea," before discussing her style for both plays. "I'm a physical actress and I direct a physical play. Everything I direct is very kinetic. I believe in movement. The physical and emotional are attached to the body. The play must move."

"The Elephant Pen," Moira said, looks at "different constraints on us" including ethical imperatives that, in principal, can be very positive, but tested under pressure.

The play, with some shades of Edward Albee's "Zoo Story," is an emotional roller coaster ride filled with dark humor between the hills and valleys.

"I love bone chilling, psychological thrillers," Moira said. "People are going to be talking about it afterwards for hours."

The play begins when a man with a satchel played by George Isaacs shows up at the house of a doctor played by Larry Johnson, a typical stranger coming to town situation. What follows is a predator and prey dynamic that grows more exciting and emotional.

"He's sitting there with his brandy, listening to Beethoven," Moira added of the perfect, paradisiacal world punctured by the stranger. "This guy intrudes on this lovely box he created for himself. The doctor has no ties. He's not married. He's very isolated in everything, but his work."

Lovers of thrillers from Hitchcock to Stephen King to James Patterson andGillian Flynn may find a play to their tastes, as characters collide amid a cloud of questions, conflict and conversation.

While this play involves a doctor like "The Elephant Man," it is not about a psychologist.

"He's highly accomplished," Moira continued. "An African-American doctor is at home on his day off and in walks 'crazy.' The guy rings the bell. He goes to the door. The guy's in. And he has to deal with him."

Moira said the play, being presented without an intermission, builds tension and suspense.

"It's a taut, tight 80 minutes of predator and prey that's constantly changing. You don't know what's going to happen from moment to moment," she said. "It also has dark humor, so it's funny, too."

The play shows how opening a door, whether psychological or real, can both let in a world and remind us of parts of ourselves we've ignored.

"He's off kilter and doesn't know how to handle him," Moira continued, of the doctor. "The questions that it poses are whether the guy has lost touch with his street smarts, his roots."

The Elephant Pen, tonight, July 7, through July 17, Cabaret Theater, Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. (at E. 10th Street). Canadian playwright Etienne Lepage's thriller directed by Lissa Moira, adapted and translated by Philippe "Keb" Blanchard with George Isaacs and Larry Johnson. Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m. and Sun. 3 p. m. $18, 212-254-1109.

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