presents

by BERNARD POMERANCE

Rated PG - partial nudity

Blaming Me is Blaming God 

The Elephant Man is based on the life of Joseph (John) Merrick who lived in Victorian London.  Suffering from what today is believed to be a combination of neurofibromatosis and Proteus Syndrome, he had grown into a horribly disfigured young man.  Rejected by his parents, he was reduced to earning money the only way he could – exhibiting himself at freak shows.  That is until he is discovered by a famous young surgeon, Frederick Treves.

Treves took Merrick to Whitechapel, a prestigious London hospital, to study his affliction.  Merrick gradually changed from an object of pity to the toast of society; he was bright, witty, and articulate with a "romantic imagination".  However, he also knew that while society appeared to have accepted him, they remained repulsed by his grotesque appearance.  Merrick knew that his dream of becoming accepted as any other man would never be realized.  Few had the character to see beneath the gnarled flesh and bone to the true man underneath and he knew he will be forever isolated.

Our superficial perceptions, the similarity of the freak show and society, and the inhumanity of good intentions are dramatized in several ways.  The most striking is in the actor's portrayal of Merrick without prosthetic makeup.  

Merrick died on April 11, 1890 at the age of 27. The official cause of death was listed as asphyxia—most likely, Treves thought, as the result of a dislocated neck. Treves, who performed the autopsy, believed that Merrick (who slept sitting up because of the weight of his head) had attempted to sleep lying down in order to "be like other people."

'Tis true my form is something odd,
But blaming me is blaming God;
Could I create myself anew
 I would not fail in pleasing you.  

 If I could reach from pole to pole
Or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul;
The mind's the standard of the man.  

—poem used by Joseph Merrick to end his letters, adapted from "False Greatness" by Isaac Watts  

In 1979, The Elephant Man was awarded both the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play and the Tony Award for Best Play.  

Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m., Monday and Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.   Tickets are $12.50, $10 youth/student, and may be purchased by going online at www.ECUARTS.com or by calling 252-328-6829.  The ECU/Loessin Playhouse is produced by the School of Theatre and Dance, College of Fine Arts and Communication, East Carolina University.