After seeing the magnificent performance by TCU Theatre of Promerance’s The Elephant Man I was left with almost the same emotional sentiment towards Merrick. I first thought that watching the play would skew the way I had originally visualized the drama but the show was very similar to the way I had imagined it. One might say that you are limited to the director’s vision of the play when watching it as a show but never do we considered the fact that our imagination can limit the way we view things. It is through seeing it in someone else’s mind that we really open the possibilities of interpretation. For example the pinheads in the play were portrayed to be mentally ill but I originally just imagined them with actual deformed cone shaped heads. The director opened my mind to the fact that Promerance was addressing another societal issue within his play. The live performance allows for the stage craft to add emotional effect to the performance as they do not have to fit the realistic barriers present in the movie. The rotating stage added considerable effect to the show and this would not have been possible in the film. But at the same time the film is able to depict more realistically what John Merrick, the elephant man, might have gone through during the time period the play is set in. The film is able to capture this period with more accuracy than the play because through the many actors and sets involved there is a real sense of attention to detail.
It's interesting to see how the Youtube version of the Pinheads were different from the theater production of The Elephant Man. You also bring up a good point about how even though we see the play through the director's point of view through his/her film, we are able to be open to new interpretations. I didn't think about that because in class we focused more on how it limits our view. But you bring up a valid point because everyone perceives things differently, and by viewing a performance we can see how another person had interpreted the play.
ReplyDeleteI can aggree with you on the fact that the live performance was complementary to the written drama because they basically used the same script. Although I was very interested in the written drama itself, I believe the TCU live performance really helped me deeply understand the meaning of each character. Like you said, the pinheads seemed differently in my mind but I like how the playwright addressed that issue within the play. The actors worked well representing each of the characters as they did not have the prosthesis and make-up required in the movie. I also agree on how well the rotating stage worked in the performance. Without it, the play would have been more difficult to adjust to the real setting. I enjoyed each of the three forms of The Elephant Man very much.
ReplyDeleteI thought the live performance did an excellent job in portraying each character, even with the limitations concerning Merrick's appearance. I agree with you, simply reading the play leaves more room for interpretation, but the director’s imagination can also give some insight to the audience. There were some characters I did not analyze as much when I first read the drama, and I really got to relate to them when I saw the play.
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