Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man is one of the most intriguing plays I have researched recently. As many of our
patrons know, SSCC Theatre has a habit of producing at least one show a year that has some basis in reality; this play is
based on the last four years of Joseph Merrick’s life. A play like this gives us a chance to educate our audience, as well as
ourselves. The cast and crew have conducted as much research as I have – asking questions such as: What is factual in
Pomerance’s script, and what is adaptation? Is normalcy an illusion? Is Frederick Treves a Jesus-like figure in Merrick’s life,
or just another sordid manager like Ross (but with better clothes and vocabulary)? Did the Elephant Man commit suicide …
or was he murdered by the thoughts and actions of society? Although this play is one of the most poignant pieces SSCC
Theatre has produced, in this director’s note, I would like to share with you some of the “lighter” discussion notes that have
come out of our dramaturgy (research) process. The play will be heavy enough.
Scrofula is a variety of skin diseases.
A dosshouse is a cheap rooming house or hotel.
A guinea was considered a more gentlemanly amount than a pound. It was equal to one pound and one bob (shilling).
Joseph Merrick did not actually meet the actress Madge Kendal, but she did arrange box seats for him at the theatre – so he
could watch in obscurity.
Joseph Merrick was first thought to have elephantiasis. Later the diagnosis was neurofibromatosis. Today the diagnosis would
likely be Proteus Syndrome.
The pinheads probably suffered from microcephaly, a disorder that causes the head to be much smaller in circumference than
average.
There is no evidence to suggest that Merrick was ever viewed as a suspect in the infamous Whitechapel Murders. Jack the
Ripper was a monster; Joseph Merrick was not.
After weeks of research, we are not quite sure what Lord John was up to in this play. But we do know it was no good.
Michael Jackson claimed to have seen David Lynch’s film version over thirty times … never once without weeping. He never
owned his bones.
Contemplate our creation,
Rainee Angles, SSCCTHEATRE Director
patrons know, SSCC Theatre has a habit of producing at least one show a year that has some basis in reality; this play is
based on the last four years of Joseph Merrick’s life. A play like this gives us a chance to educate our audience, as well as
ourselves. The cast and crew have conducted as much research as I have – asking questions such as: What is factual in
Pomerance’s script, and what is adaptation? Is normalcy an illusion? Is Frederick Treves a Jesus-like figure in Merrick’s life,
or just another sordid manager like Ross (but with better clothes and vocabulary)? Did the Elephant Man commit suicide …
or was he murdered by the thoughts and actions of society? Although this play is one of the most poignant pieces SSCC
Theatre has produced, in this director’s note, I would like to share with you some of the “lighter” discussion notes that have
come out of our dramaturgy (research) process. The play will be heavy enough.
Scrofula is a variety of skin diseases.
A dosshouse is a cheap rooming house or hotel.
A guinea was considered a more gentlemanly amount than a pound. It was equal to one pound and one bob (shilling).
Joseph Merrick did not actually meet the actress Madge Kendal, but she did arrange box seats for him at the theatre – so he
could watch in obscurity.
Joseph Merrick was first thought to have elephantiasis. Later the diagnosis was neurofibromatosis. Today the diagnosis would
likely be Proteus Syndrome.
The pinheads probably suffered from microcephaly, a disorder that causes the head to be much smaller in circumference than
average.
There is no evidence to suggest that Merrick was ever viewed as a suspect in the infamous Whitechapel Murders. Jack the
Ripper was a monster; Joseph Merrick was not.
After weeks of research, we are not quite sure what Lord John was up to in this play. But we do know it was no good.
Michael Jackson claimed to have seen David Lynch’s film version over thirty times … never once without weeping. He never
owned his bones.
Contemplate our creation,
Rainee Angles, SSCCTHEATRE Director
