MR MERRICK, THE ELEPHANT MAN (Inside Out, BBC1, October 2019

REVIEWS

MR MERRICK, THE ELEPHANT MAN (Jeff Thomson, Surrey Advertiser, 28th July 2017)

On Sunday I joined a modest, but appreciative, audience at The Keep public house for a performance of MR MERRICK, THE ELEPHANT MAN - A small budget play, but with a larger ambition. Joseph Merrick was horribly afflicted by neurofibromatosis, which malformed his head and much of his body. In Victorian times, the explanation for such deformity was explained away by his pregnant mother's frightening encounter with an elephant. Merrick became an exhibit in a freak show. His story has been told in a variety of creative ways. At The Keep, Lucky Dog Theatre Productions stripped away sentimentality and presented a facted story that revealed indifference, ridicule, and heart-warming compassion. If I thought the staging, on this occasion, was too complex for the location, the characterisation of the two main players, Merrick (Tony Carpenter) and his doctor Frederick Treves (Philip Hutchinson), compensated. The immediacy of Fringe productions can be exposing but even (very) close-up, these two actors offered sincerity and conviction. It was affecting stuff. Merrick died at the age of 27 from a dislocated neck.

MR MERRICK, THE ELEPHANT MAN (Ludlow Fringe Review, June 2017)

Ludlow was fortunate tonight, if it only but knew it. We had in our midst Lucky Dog Theatre, a talented duo of actors who brought us two shows worthy of any Independent theatre run. Real class. We were treated firstly to a dramatisation of the sad final years of Joseph Merrick who was born in mid-Victorian London with severe deformities and rescued from a freak show by Frederick Treves. We know (at least those of us who saw John Hurt portray him so perfectly on film in The Elephant Man know) that Merrick is grotesque to look at and hard to understand In 'Mr Merrick, The Elephant Man' Merrick is played using clever minimal cheek padding to distort the face and achieve the vocal sound we expect from Merrick who is beautifully well-spoken but difficult to listen to This is one of the show’s great triumphs; to allow the audience to have Merrick clearly portrayed in their own imagination instead of accurately (but perhaps patronisingly), visually portrayed on stage. Tony Carpenter as Merrick and Philip Hutchinson (also the author) as Treves gave supremely confident performances, both actors completely inhabiting their roles. Additional roles were played by others yet there were only ever two live actors on stage. Lucky Dog have perfected a method of introducing characters using filmed sequences projected life size onto a casual bedsheet backdrop. This is such a neat solution and wonderfully clever; at one point turning a lecture on Merrick’s deformities into a debate on the morality of “displaying “ him at the London Hospital using sequential filmed actors in costume. The whole production was beautifully realised with note-perfect delivery on all fronts. Fabulous graphics and enhanced Victorian cinema footage with sound added made for a satisfying overall experience. The performances were all outstanding and really moving, mesmerisingly delivered. *****

MR MERRICK, THE ELEPHANT MAN (Stephen Walker, FringeGuru, 14th July 2015)

The story of Joseph Merrick is a familiar one. It’s been told many times on stage and most famously in the film The Elephant Man, when Merrick was portrayed by John Hurt. However, this production argues, all those accounts are at least partly fictional; so this new script sets great store by strict historical accuracy, and the support of Merrick's biographer. This pursuit of veracity sees the play embark on a chronological run-through of Merrick's life, from his first meeting with his doctor, Frederick Treves, to his unexpected death. The opening scene is highly effective: the initial consultation enables a natural-seeming discussion of Merrick's medical condition, his family history, and the story of his freak-show days. It takes us through the remaining events of Merrick's life, including his return to the freak-shows and abandonment in Belgium, his rescue by Treves, and the charitable donations and friends in high places that finally gave him a comfortable life. The best aspects of the play are the strong performances from Tony Carpenter and Philip Hutchinson. I was pleased to discover that Merrick's deformities were not represented by any prosthetics: instead, Carpenter characterises Merrick's physical problems with physical acts, his face contorted, his arm held stiffly and each movement awkwardly performed. It's entirely convincing and maintained throughout, and the lack of distracting prosthetics enables the audience to see the humanity behind Carpenter's performance evoked with a humility that disguises a firm will. As Treves, Philip Hutchinson (who is also the playwright) subtly conveys decency and good sense, half-hidden behind a brusque manner and bustling practicality. As a straightforward biography then, Mr Merrick can be judged a success: the acting is excellent and we learn much more about his life, especially his relationship with the kindly but patriarchal Treves. It's possible though that loosening the strictures of sticking to established facts, the play could imagine more effectively what it was like to inhabit Merrick's world.

MR MERRICK, THE ELEPHANT MAN (George Chapman, Barnstaple TheatreFest Review, July 2015)

Mr Merrick, The Elephant Man is a Lucky Dog Theatre production that tells the true story of Joseph Carey Merrick and his relationship with his doctor Frederick Treves. Through the course of the show the two skilful performers generate a powerful emotional response in their audience without ever becoming too elaborate or over dramatic, in fact the more subdued approach makes the unfolding drama seem more genuine because they allow the real tragedy to shine through. It is this sense of authenticity that makes The Elephant Man particularly effective. It is not just the performances that shine; props help paint the picture of Mr Merrick's life, the sound track immerses the audience in the Victorian world and the creative use of a projector brings a great deal of character development. Mr Merrick, The Elephant Man could be considered one of the finest pieces of theatre that Theatrefest has to offer.

MR MERRICK, THE ELEPHANT MAN (Paul Levy, FringeReview, 29th May 2015)

Lucky Dog, the company that has been touring successfully for the past couple of years with Hats Off to Laurel and Hardy have, once again, delved into history, done their research, and offered it back to us in a very direct way. This is the story of Joseph Merrick and his time at the London Hospital under the kind care of surgeon Frederick Treves, who takes on the task of looking after a man whom many cannot bear to look at, who is hidden from sight, experiences aching loneliness and eventually his deformity proves his end. The story is well known. You've probably seen the film. What Lucky Dog have done is strip away the Hollywood and presented a simple, bare interpretation that allows Merrick's personality and his own very human gentleness to emerge before us. Philip Hutchinson plays a Treves as the facilitator of Merrick, one who tries to meet his needs, but also interprets them and filters them in terms of the society of the time. Merrick is "hideous" to Victorian society, and yet this is a tale of the terrible dynamic between locking the man away from the gaze of others, and taking the risks of giving him space to move and to meet others. Simple things become important, valuable, essential a gramophone, framed pictures and letters that allow us to connect without the complication of visual meeting- surely a relevant metaphor for today's texting and social media culture? Merrick is the Elephant Man, rescued by Treves from a life as a circus exhibit, taken into care that is a double edged sword, a place of safety and a place of lonely isolation. Tony Carpenter is Merrick and uses no CGI effects or clever make-up to create the horror of the man others recoil from when they behold him. It's a brilliant study in imagined character. We have here the tears of the clown, a melancholy gentleness and a sense of held in pain and anguish. Carpenter is wholly believable as Merrick. Carpenter uses physicality, in face, in hands, in bodily movement extremely well. This was only the second time the show had played and there's a need to refine the pacing in parts. Sometimes to the narrative unfolds too slowly and the atmosphere lulls in the wrong way. Yes, this is a bold production that doesn't hurry and, for the most part, hold the attention strongly. The core strengths of this new production from Lucky Dog are the central performance of Carpenter as Merrick, the courage to give us a shockingly direct encounter with Merrick and his time at the London Hospital and the engaging simplicity of the script which is economically written and rooted in Hutchinson's usual top drawer research. It's a unique bit of theatre at the Fringe, hidden away at the Werks Central Studio in an intimate and wonderfully silent space. Almost every minute of it focuses on the man. And that, ultimately is what Merrick was not The Elephant Man, but a man.