The Elephant Man

My friend and I get season tickets every year to the local University plays. It is a series of 6 or so plays and we really enjoy them.

Tonight, we went to see "The Elephant Man". Wow. It was a very sad, disturbing play. But the guy who played the Elephant Man was just brilliant. I thought he was wonderful. You'd never know he is a college student to watch him.

So, the premise behind the Elephant Man is that there was a man who was deformed and growing more deformed as time goes on. In a movie they would use a lot of makeup and stuff to make him look grotesque. In a play, however, they sometimes just use the actor's ability to portray this grotesqueness. The guy who played the Elephant Man tonight was amazing. He was able to contort himself into a sick looking position and keep himself that way most of the play. It was incredible. He also changed his voice to be very gruff, strained. It was believable. It looked likt it took a lot of work and was probably painful to stay that way for 2 hours. Amazing.

The play itself was ok, although a bit odd at times. I'm glad we went to see it even though it was a tough play to watch (very sad). Of course, I love most plays and musicals, which is why we get season tickets!