"The Elephant Man" by Bernard Pomerance

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

"The Elephant Man" is based on the life of John Merrick, who lived in London during the latter part of the nineteenth century. A horribly deformed young man, who had been a freak attraction in traveling side shows, is found abandoned and helpless and is admitted for observation to a Whitechapel Hospital.

Under the care of a renowned young doctor, Frederick Treves, who takes him under his wing, Merrick changes from a sensational object of pity to a favourite of the aristocracy and literati. His belief that he can become a man like any other is a dream that does not come to fruition as he dies at the age of twenty-seven as a result of his disfigurement.

I saw the film, starring John Hurt, many years ago but did not have the same emotional connection as with this stage production, a stage production that is seen very rarely on both professional or amateur stages. There is a particularly sensitive and emotional close to the end of Act One which brings the loneliness that John must have been feeling to light.

David Field plays John Merrick and I can only imagine the difficulty an actor must have, at least at the start of rehearsals, to not use part of their body in the way that they are used to doing.

Merrick's right side of his body was seriously damaged with the disfigurement so to concentrate on just the left side of the body must have been weird, to say the least. David had the physicality side of it perfect, as well as the vocal impairment. What David also brought out was the intelligence and tender side of Merrick, showing the human qualities behind the deformity that everyone saw from the outside.

Jonathan Cleaver (Frederick Treves / Belgian Policeman) showed great feeling as the famous doctor, who obviously saw beyond the outer image that so repulsed the others. When Treves revealed that Merrick had a limited life span, this did quite come as a shock, even though we all knew the story, but I think seeing this revelation just feet away from you seemed to evoke the required reaction.

Kathryn Edwards (Pinhead 2 / Mrs Kendall / Countess) as Mrs Kendall, who is an actress, befriends Merrick and at least manages to make Merrick feel like any other man by treating him like a normal man and not a sideshow freak. This is also shown to be her downfall and she does not get to see Merrick again.

The remaining cast also take on several roles each and are also exceptional in bringing their characters to life before our eyes.

David Hawley (Carr Gomm / Conductor), Tom Rostron (Ross / Bishop Walsham How / Snork), Sarah Taylor (Pinhead 1 / Nurse Sandwich / Princess Alexandra / Duchess) and Richard Young (Pinhead Manager / English Policeman / Porter / Lord John).

Directed by Nik Hedges, you'll find that the stage play is different to the movie version, and a bit shorter as well, but no less engrossing. At the close of Act One, I for one could not wait for Act Two. With the play version being quite short, the play could have been performed as a one act play, as it has been performed in the past.

The set is designed by Colin Treliving. It's very simple and all of the action is split between the left and right side of the stage, the left housing the action for the hospital and Merrick's new home, while the right being the scenes for everything else. A simple but effective set design.

Lighting Design by Allan Green and again simplicity is the key with fade in and outs depicting the scene changes.

Sound Design by Jessica Rough with Jack Harris as Sound Assistant and this helped place us at the specific scenes and periods of Merrick's short but eventful young life.

The Projection Design is by Matthew Allcock. The screen at the back of the stage told us about the scenes we were to see and set the time line perfectly.

I loved the costumes, then again, I do love a good period drama, and there have been no corners cut for realism, we see this attention to detail in Mrs Kendall's full outfit. Very smart and extremely classy, which you could say sums up the play to be fair.

One thing that I was pleased to see that the Lace Market Theatre did not do was to try and build a prosthetic head for Merrick. Not only would it have been difficult to hear the words, but I would also imagine that it would be uncomfortable for David Field to wear and possibly hinder him.

Sometimes you do not need the whole picture physically in front of your eyes, especially when the script is this good. A picture can paint a thousand words but here, a thousand words painted just as vivid a picture.

It was pleasing to see the theatre almost full on opening night, and I hope that this trend continues throughout the week for this fascinating story of human kind, and the kindness of humans.

"The Elephant Man" is at the Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 12 February.