The Marvellous Elephant Man the Musical

This production was FULL of surprises. The first is that it is a fully formed musical played by a juicy brass band, with catchy tunes with quite sophisticated and at times hysterically funny lyrics.

The actual story of The Elephant Man is only loosely followed. The original John Merrick suffered from severe deformities and was exploited by a travelling showman, and so this musical is appropriately set in the Spiegeltent. The tent splendidly evokes the Victorian era, equipped with a circular circus like stage and a cage hoisted to the roof of the big top.

The story was used as a vehicle to send up many of the genres of musical theatre. There were the Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Three Little Maids From School” reinvented as very naughty nurses. A spectacular Italian aria ruptured shrieks of laughter from an Italian speaking couple behind me, who explained the words in Italian were graphically pornographic.

Other genres plundered included yodelling, schmaltzy romance (it takes two to fall in love but only a moment in time) and even a nod to A Chorus Line (5,6,7,8).

The gymnastic lyrics were at times a treat. In one song the composer Debussy was rhymed with the word pussy. They were not talking about a pet pussycat in this song – get my drift.

The premise for the whole production is that it is set in Victorian England when attitudes to many things we view now as politically incorrect were abundant. The song titles include “Hyman Intactus” and “Make A Freak”.

Before the show commenced there was a long warning about all isms which the show was filled with.  Further, in notes given to the media, the actors and creatives itemised all the discrimination which they endured due to their size, ethnicity, ableness and sexuality – emphasizing that they do not endorse any of these attitudes.

It was both confronting and a breath of fresh air compared to other recent new works which have been boringly didactic.

Still, it was too much for some, who did not return after interval.

The performances and choreography were big and bold.

Ben Clark as John Merrick was a rather dashing ‘freak’ with a spectacular voice. Carving up the stage was Kanen Breen as the villain, Dr Frederick Treves, and Marc Lucchesi was commanding in multiple songs.

This is a hugely ambitious production from an independent theatre company who have whipped up a cracker of a production for a Fringe festival.

David Spicer

Photographer: Paul Scott.