By Brenda Sexton
The Courier-Herald
There’s still time to catch a performance of the Enumclaw High School drama department’s production of the funny and poignant “Elephant Man.”
The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Enumclaw High School auditorium. Admission is $9; students with Associated Student Body (ASB) card pay $6.
“Elephant Man” is the true story of John Merrick, a man with extreme deformities, as he tries to survive the depths and heights of 19th century
London. The performance, brought to stage by Bernard Pomerance, features more than 25 Enumclaw High School students, half who have never been in a play before, EHS drama teacher and director Darrell Miller said.
In his notes, Miller said, “It’s a completely human play.
“We’ve had long discussions as a cast about the nuance the play provides,” Miller noted. “The depth beneath the character’s surfaces. The lessons that ugly waters may run deep. Something in that vein. We have laughed and cried together in the process of making it ‘more honest’ and ‘more real.’”
The play written in 1979, is about events around 1889, and focuses on John Merrick, the Elephant Man, who suffered from a disfiguring disorder called Proteus Syndrome. Sophomore Reece Menzel is the Elephant Man.
Kameron Jacobs plays the surgeon and teacher Frederick Treves, who studies him. Nolan Bailey is Carr Gomm, the administrator of London Hospital.
Kyle Sharick is Ross, the Elephant Man’s manager. Other roles include, Sarah McKinley as Mrs. Kendal, Jonathon Cooper as Lord John, and Ben Cooper as Bishop Walsham How.
The Enumclaw and White River high school drama departments plan to join forces and bring a comedy, written by Susana French and based on a story written by Miller, to the White River High School theater stage. “The Christmas War” premieres at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 and continues Dec. 11 and Dec. 12 with a 2 p.m. matinee Dec. 13.
Auditions are Tuesday.
To comment on this story, view it online at www.courierherald.com. Reach Brenda Sexton at bsexton@courierherald.com or 360-802-8206.
